Consider short courses of antibiotics

doi:10.1136/bmj.308.6933.919

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C M Harris,
D C Lloyd

Prescribing Research Unit, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9NZ.

EDITOR, - The Department of Health's determination to reduce prescribing costs will leave many general practitioners looking for ways to do this without harming their patients; perhaps they should consider the duration of the courses of antibiotics that they prescribe for uncomplicated infections. The preferred duration may occasionally be three or even 10 days, but generally it is either five or seven days - though there is no reason to believe that seven days is ever better than five. A study that we have conducted indicates …