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Health

It’s safe to prescribe fewer antibiotics for coughs and colds

By New Scientist and Press Association

5 July 2016

Woman coughs in snow

No need for antibiotics

Ariel Skelley/Getty

People do not experience more serious health problems when family doctors are stricter about prescribing antibiotics for conditions like coughs, colds and sore throats – a finding that should help stop the spread of antibiotic resistance.

A study of 610 general practices in the UK found that surgeries that have lower antibiotic prescribing rates do not see significantly more complications in patients with respiratory infections.

The finding is encouraging for family doctors, who have to decide whether or not to prescribe antibiotics many times a day, without knowing if a person’s condition is caused by bacteria or a virus. Prescribing antibiotics for viral infections helps spread antimicrobial resistance, but the fear has been that failing to catch a bacterial infection in its early stages might lead to complications.

Curbing resistance

Martin Gulliford at Kings College London and his team found that, overall, practices that prescribe fewer antibiotics do not have higher rates of serious bacterial complications, such as meningitis.

“Our results suggest that, if antibiotics are not taken, this should carry no increased risk of more serious complications,” says Gulliford.

However, Gulliford’s team did detect slightly higher rates of pneumonia and quinsy, a rare complication of sore throats. His team estimate that if an average-sized GP surgery with 7000 patients cut its antibiotic prescribing by 10 per cent, it would see one extra case of pneumonia a year, and one extra case of quinsy every decade. “Both these complications can be readily treated once identified,” says Gulliford.

“This is an important and robust study and addresses a very emotive subject,” says Adam Roberts, who studies antibiotic resistance at University College London. “The pressure on GPs to reduce prescriptions is increasing and this study provides them with the evidence they need to convince patients that, at least for respiratory tract infections, it is not going to harm them if they don’t receive the drugs.”

Journal reference: British Medical Journal, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.i3410

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