BMJ 1995;310:942 (8 April)

Letters

Antibiotics carried in general practitioners' emergency bags

EDITOR,--S W S Menzies1 highlights an important result in our survey that we were unable to elaborate because of restriction of space2; half of the general practitioners (1329 (50.4%)) still carried co-trimoxazole, and 694 (26.3%) carried ciprofloxacin. There are currently few indications for the first line use of co-trimoxazole (treatment and prophylaxis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia being one); even more disturbing is the increase in ciprofloxacin, which must have even fewer roles in the community.

We recommend that, in addition to parenteral benzylpenicillin, the following oral antibiotics should be kept in the emergency bag: amoxycillin for respiratory infections, trimethoprim for urinary tract infections, flucloxacillin for cellulitis and acute skin infections, and erythromycin succinate for people with sensitivity to penicillin and for suspected atypical pneumonia. Cephalexin or co-amoxiclav might be carried for use as a second line drug for urinary tract infection, particularly in older people in nursing homes.

The . . . [Full text of this article]


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