Why British children are 'under-dosing' on penicillin

A research found that millions of UK children are being given penicillin at too low a dose, putting them at risk of persistent infections.

16:43 26 March 2014

Researchers from King’s College London and Imperial College London have carried out research which concluded that millions of UK children are at risk of persistent infections because they are given low doses of penicillin.

Looking at the 65,000 prescriptions given to some 46,000 children, the researchers said that almost 75per cent of those aged six to 18 were given suboptimal doses. Because of this, the study authors recommended a review of prescribing practices particularly for youngsters since they are getting heavier and as a result, they may need larger doses.

Dr Sonia Saxena, co-author from Imperial College London who is also a GP, said: "It is important now to understand why GPs are prescribing sub-therapeutic levels of penicillin. Some GPs may be erring on the side of caution, prescribing low doses to avoid errors or side-effects.

"In the majority of cases children will still get better, but under-treating those children who do need antibiotics could mean more infectious complications and more health contacts overall."

Steve Tomlin of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said that although the study raised an important issue, it did not provide the much-needed answers. "It raises the fundamental question about whether we are dosing appropriately for children based on age. Perhaps we need to be looking at the individual weight of a child and dosing accordingly, but those sorts of calculations can go wrong and are not without risk.