High overuse of antibiotics for both adults and children aged <5 years is common, according to a recent study. The institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to April 20, 2016 with data collected retrospectively from patients treated for diarrheal diseases from January 2015 to December 2015. Researchers found:

• 303 patients were included (51.2% male, 48.8% female; 62.0% children aged <5 years).
• 263 (86.8%) patients received 8 different types of antibiotics, with cotrimoxazole most often prescribed.
• Based on the presence of blood in stools, 14.5% of cases were invasive bacterial type.
• The rate of overuse of antibiotics was 72.3%, based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.