Antibiotics May Worsen Asthma Exacerbations, Increase Hospitalization

Adult patients hospitalized with asthma exacerbations may not benefit from antibiotics if they had not suffered from a previous lung infection. In fact, in some measures, the common treatment may worsen their care.

A new study from researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, presented at the 2018 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference in San Diego, found that adults suffering from asthma exacerbations have lengthened hospitalizations and an increased risk for treatment-related diarrhea when administered antibiotics under poor clinical judgement.

It is largest observational comparative effectiveness study to date, according to the research team, as they analyzed medical records for patients hospitalized for asthma over a 2-year period at 554 US hospitals. The comprehensive research looked into what’s become a disparity between written protocol and common procedure.

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