Antibiotics disrupt the intestinal flora which does not have time to recover from excessive use. “By taking so much, she doesn’t have time to recover. Children suffer from a series of illnesses because their immunity is weakened or almost non-existent.underlines Estella Genon. “We live in a society where health is in a very poor state.”
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Without putting the child in danger, excessive medication will impact their quality of life. “Immunity is weakened. We will have the development of allergies and autoimmune diseases such as asthma. The body will get used to it and will no longer be able to defend itself.”insists the pediatric naturopath.
Antibiotics act on all bacteria, even those useful to the body. “The more antibiotics we consume, the more it increases the emergence of resistant bacteria. The WHO carried out a study on the number of deaths linked to antibiotic resistance. This is a serious public health danger.”says Dr. Deudon. Old people will suffer, adds Dr Guy Delrée, president of the Federation of Walloon General Practitioners Associations (FAGW).
Parent request
“We are seeing an increase in demand for medicine, particularly for children. Parents want to relieve their child as quickly as possible. You need to have time to take care of a sick child and if you take more and more care of our health, we are also looking for increasingly rapid and immediate solutions”notes Dr Pierre-Louis Deudon.
According to Mutualités Libres, anti-asthmatics and antibiotics are more frequently used by those under 12 years old. The use of at least one medication reimbursed by compulsory health insurance increased slightly from 59% in 2013 to 59.4% in 2023 among 0 to 11 year olds. “In 2023, six out of 10 children aged 0 to 11 have used reimbursed medicines and 5 out of 10 children between 12 and 18 years old”, indicates Marianne Hiernaux, the spokesperson. “We remain heavy users of medications for this age group.” If this consumption has decreased by almost 4% in 10 years among adolescents, that of antidepressants has increased by 60% in five years.
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Sometimes the simplest remedies are the best. We must be patient and trust our immune system. “LViruses are part of life and not everything can be solved with medication.”concludes Guy Delrée. Nothing beats physical activity, sleep and a good diet to stay healthy.
