Antibiotic Prescription With Asthma Medications: Why Is It So Common?

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are among themost common reasons for visits to primary care pediatricians and emergency departments.1 Infections with respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, human metapneumovirus, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae are frequently associated with wheezing, which leads to the clinical entities of bronchiolitis in infants and asthmatic bronchitis (also known as wheezy bronchitis) in older children.2 In general, bacterial superinfection is uncommon after these respiratory virus infections, and antibiotics do not generally play a role in the management of wheezing associated with signs of acute infection.2–5 It is important to note that bacterial infections are more common after infection with influenza A or B, but these viruses do not generally trigger wheezing in children.