GPs should reduce antibiotic use with alternative treatments

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7345.1099/b

BMJ 2002;324:1099 ( 4 May )

Letters

GPs should reduce antibiotic use with alternative treatments

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Increasing evidence accumulating from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews suggests that the benefits of antibioticsin upper respiratory tract illnesses in childhood are modest.Nasrin et al have shown that the use of antibiotics in such casesincreases the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the children.¹Their study provides yet more urgency to reduce the use of antibioticsin general practice for acute respiratoryinfections.

But how can this be achieved? Doctors do not necessarily share a sceptical approach to the use of antibiotics. The barriersto the implementation of best evidence are being explored anddescribed.² For example, general practitioners are more influencedby certain clinical signs and symptoms to use antibiotics foracute respiratory infections than the evidence suggests is effective.³

Are the public campaigns run in Belgium and the United Kingdom to reduce use of antibiotics the best approach? Doctors maybe placed in . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Article

Effect of $beta$ lactam antibiotic use in children on pneumococcal resistance to penicillin: prospective cohort study: Dilruba Nasrin, Peter J Collignon, Leslee Roberts, Eileen J Wilson, Louis S Pilotto, and Robert M Douglas
BMJ 2002 324: 28. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Potts, M, Evans, D W (2005). Does it matter that organ donors are not dead? Ethical and policy implications. J. Med. Ethics 31: 406-409 [Abstract] [Full text]