Antibiotics

I suspect my patients are fed up of hearing about viral infections by now. In the past, GPs used a lot of antibiotics, especially at winter times for coughs and colds. Unfortunantely, what we are now seeing is bacteria that are becoming resistant to more and more antibiotics. There have been reported infections in the UK which will now only respond to powerful antibiotics given via a drip in hopsital and some bacteria are emerging for which there is no antibiotic at all. The antibiotics we use in practice have been with us for decades and in the absence of new drugs, bacterial resistance is a real worry. Research shows that a lot of conditions get better on their own without the need for antibiotics- the less we use, the more likely they are to work when they are needed.

80% of ear infections in children will clear within 4 days, 64% of conjunctivitis will get better with a placebo medication, 70% of acute sinusitis will settle within 10 days and most sore throats will resolve within 8 days (taking antibiotics in this case will reduce the duration of symptoms by about 8 hours!).

As a GP, I have duty to not only give the best care to each patient, but also to look after our community as a whole. Reducing unnecessary antibiotic use is one small step to helping protect the vulnerable in our community from the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.