A new study in India suggests that many doctors give antibiotics to children with diarrhea, even if there is no bacterial infection.

Researchers say that this does not happen because doctors want to make money or because they do not know enough, but because they believe that parents expect medicines that will work fast.

Giving antibiotics is a serious problem when they are not needed. It combines something called antimicrobial resistance, when germs learn to fight common drugs, making it difficult to cure infection.

This is a major risk for children and adults everywhere.

Understanding ‘Address’

The study talks about a word called “address-du gap”. This means what doctors know, the gap between it is correct and what they actually do in real life.

Researchers found that 62% of doctors understood that antibiotics were not required for most cases of childhood diarrhea. Nevertheless, they still have determined them.

The study says that if doctors always follow what they already know, wrong tips may fall by about 30 percent marks. But if we focus only on giving more information or training to doctors, then improvement can be just 6 points.

This shows that the problem is not only about knowledge – it is about converting that knowledge into daily practice.

Why doctors still prescribe antibiotics

So why do doctors give antibiotics when they know that they are not needed?

The study found that many doctors feel that parents want antibiotics so that their child can get better quickly. This belief still writes to them when the disease is caused by a virus, where antibiotics do not help.

In fact, most parents do not always expect or expect antibiotics. Some studies suggest that parents are happy when doctors explained that drugs are not required. But many doctors are worried that parents will get upset if they go without a recipe.

Money is not the main reason. Research used experiments to check whether the financial awards made a difference. The results showed that the choice of doctors was not strongly affected by selling antibiotics.

Another cause is uncertainty about the cause of diarrhea. If a doctor cannot immediately tell that the problem is bacteria or viral, they can give antibiotics “just in case”. This is especially true in clinics in which there are no good laboratory tests or quick equipment to detect the cause.

How to reduce unnecessary tips

The study provides many ideas to solve this issue:

• Correct the beliefs of doctors about parents. Helping doctors to see that most families do not demand antibiotics, there may be a big difference.
• Talk to parents. When parents understand that antibiotics do not help in viral diarrhea, they are less likely to push them.
• Improve clinical equipment. Quick and reliable testing doctors can help know whether a child has a bacterial infection. With clear results, they can choose the correct treatment rather than guessing.
• Support better habits. Clinic can make simple rules or checklists so that doctors believe that when they are not needed, not for antibiotics.

why it matters

Antibiotics are among the most important drugs ever. They save their lives every day by fighting dangerous infections. But using them too much, or incorrectly, allows bacteria to become stronger. Over time, these “superbugs” become difficult – sometimes impossible – to treat.

By closing the address-du gap, doctors give equipment to make good decisions, and help parents understand that antibiotics are not useful, we can cut over experiment.

Protecting antibiotics is not about patients today. It is about working these life -saving drugs for future generations.