title: Antibiotic consumption among a Swedish cohort of children born in 2006.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is important to measure antibiotic consumption because it contributes to antimicrobial resistance. Our objective was to follow all children born in 2006 in Sweden and to analyse antibiotic consumption during each month of life for the first two years and thereafter for every year during their third to fifth years of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a register-based, open-cohort study where we used the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, which covers the whole population, to identify the type and date of purchase of antibiotics for the children in the cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the first one-year follow-up period, 101 555 children up to one year of age were living in Sweden, of which 50 135 were boys and 49 420 were girls. Children consumed the largest amount of antibiotics during their second year of life. In our cohort, 51% received antibiotics at some point during the second year and 24% received multiple treatments. The consumption then dropped with every year of life during the follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that actions against overprescribing of antibiotics to children should be targeted towards the second year of life in order to have the greatest effect on consumption.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hellman
authors.affiliation: Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grape
authors.affiliation: Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.|Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ternhag
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002675:Child, Preschool; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Antibacterials; Antibiotic use; Children; DDD; Population prevalence; Prescriptions