Antibiotic resistant genes identified in young children

A new study publicized in Plos ONE has analyzed the level of antibiotic resistant genes found in the intestinal tract of American children under the age of five. According to a recent report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, antibiotic-resistant infections cause at least 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually, adding $20 billion in health-care costs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, now causes more deaths in the United States than HIV.

“From birth to age 5, children receive more antibiotics than during any other five-year time span in their lives,” said senior author …read more