Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Running noses and green phlegm do not mean patients need antibiotics, say doctors and public health experts.
It was described as a "prevailing myth" that the drugs were needed to treat such infections.
Public Health England and the Royal College of General Practitioners said the symptoms were often caused by viruses.
And the use of antibiotics was leading to resistance, they said.
Public Health England said its own research showed that 40% of people thought antibiotics would help a cough if the phlegm was green, while very few thought it would make a difference to clear-coloured phlegm.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24957090
(warning: gross picture of snotty-nosed kid 😱)
It was described as a "prevailing myth" that the drugs were needed to treat such infections.
Public Health England and the Royal College of General Practitioners said the symptoms were often caused by viruses.
And the use of antibiotics was leading to resistance, they said.
Public Health England said its own research showed that 40% of people thought antibiotics would help a cough if the phlegm was green, while very few thought it would make a difference to clear-coloured phlegm.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24957090
(warning: gross picture of snotty-nosed kid 😱)