A state health task force reported today the number of drug-resistant infections tracked in Iowa has been cut in half. Dr Stephen Rinderknecht says they tracked the number of ailments caused by pneumococcus. He explains pneumococcus causes some of the most common childhood ailments, from serious ones like pneumonia and meningitis to ear infections.He says antibiotic-resistant germs aren’t caused by using drugs to treat bacteria, but by taking them for viral illnesses against which they have no effect anyway. The doctor says as more antibiotics are used germs get “smarter” and though we come up with new medicines, we can’t do that forever. Speaking at a West Des Moines pediatric Clinic, Rinderknecht says there’s now a vaccine against that pneumococcus germ.Schools don’t require it yet but they recommend it, and so do the Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control. The doctor adds any insurance plan that covers routine child vaccination will pay the 60-dollar cost of the pneumococcus shot.