A new study reveals antibiotics are overprescribed for kids and teens, but it can be difficult for doctors to tell when they’re actually needed CDC researchers studied a decade of data and found more than 57 percent of patients were prescribed an antibiotic but only 27 percent of the illnesses were bacterial These unneeded antibiotics are driving a surge in drug-resistant superbugs Experts said there is currently no good solution to the problem because aside from strep throat, there are no existing tests to determine if an illness is bacterial or viral