Conclusions Overall antibiotic prescription rates for ARTI decreased, associated with fewer OM visits in children younger than 5 years and with fewer prescriptions for ARTI for which antibiotics are rarely indicated. However, prescription rates for broad-spectrum antibiotics increased significantly.
Go figure — VIRAL infections don’t respond to antibiotics. Who knew?!?
this is true
Overuse of antibiotics is a big issue in health care. I know a lot of people who get them at a drop of the hat.
Generally I always wind up on an antibiotic anyway when I get a virus. I try the over the counter treatments first, but it ends up going into a sinus infection, and it simply doesn’t clear up, so the doctors eventually put me on an antibiotic.
I avoid doctors so thoroughly as to lack even a close social acquaintance with one, but recently heard something from a friend with a relative in the medical profession: doctors are finding it more difficult to obtain antibiotics, and must keep detailed records that justify what they prescribe and track the quantities they prescribe. Some kind of oversight has gotten much more strict?
Don’t know if it’s true, just putting it out here for examination by the better informed.