Antibiotics use for colds 'rises 40%'

[Northerner]

The proportion of patients given antibiotics for coughs and colds has risen 40% this century, a study found.

It comes despite government efforts to reduce prescriptions for antibiotics, which do not have any impact on common coughs and colds and work in only 10% of sore throat conditions.

The University College London and Public Health England study also found big variations between GP practices.

Researchers looked at more than 500 UK GP practices between 1999 and 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28648785

What on earth is going on? I have never in my life even considered going to the doctor's with a cold, let alone expected drugs to treat one! What is up with people? If doctors prescribed fewer ABs, then perhaps they could afford to prescribe more test strips for people 🙄

 

[Sally71]

I thought that overuse of antibiotics was the main reason that drug-resistant forms of bacteria are developing - clearly that message isn't getting through to some people either!

Some folk are very pushy, think antibiotics are a magic cure-all and haven't been educated in the fact that they don't work on viruses. Oh and must be namby-pambies too when it comes to illness! There must still be some doctors who prescribe them just to shut people up 😡

A GP told me that viruses are a lot more common, transmit a lot more easily from person to person but cause milder illnesses, hence whenever you have a child with a temperature etc they say "wait 5 days and come back if it hasn't cleared up by then" and 9 times out of 10 the child will indeed get better within the 5 days. Bacterial infections are much less common but nastier. I think a lot of people could do with some education like this!

I went to a chemist with conjunctivitis once (have had it a few times so know the symptoms, and you can now get the eye drops for it over the counter so don't need to bother the GP). They told me that if you have sticky gunk in the eye then it is a bacterial infection and you need antibiotic drops. If you have all the other symptoms but no gunk it is viral and you need different drops, which is what I was given in that case and hey presto they worked. (have had the bacterial version before as well and it's definitely worse!). Wonder if the same theory works for throats? I.e. nastier = bacteria 🙄

 

[Northerner]

...Wonder if the same theory works for throats? I.e. nastier = bacteria 🙄

Probably, but as you say a lot of people are just wusses and think they are at death's door with the mildest of ailments 🙄

 

[KookyCat]

I couldn't believe this when I read it, I thought the days of pacifying people with antibiotics were long gone. I had a massive amount of antibiotics when I was 14 and for 15 years I wasn't allowed antibiotics unless it was life threatening because of potential resistance issues (I was producing antibodies), so they knew about the problem 26 years ago. I have had antibiotics once in the time since, and managed to fight off several bouts of tonsillitis with ultra chloroseptic, a chest infection with vitamin C (that was dicey), and infected insect bites with these weird special dressings (prescribed). They have the tools to help people without antibiotics so it's just irresponsible. I understand you have to be more careful with kiddies but antibiotics do nothing for a cold or a virus. In fact they're potentially harming the patients by handing them antibiotics. Incidentally I still can't have penicillin because it doesn't work for me anymore.

 

[pav]

Its the very last resort going to the doc for colds and flu like thing., I find it normally easier to ride them out, peaks quicker and gets it through the system better. Think I have only been to the docs once for cold / flu symptoms that were dragging on and turned out to be something else,

 

[Sally71]

I would never dream of going to the doctor with just a cold, even if I've got a temperature with it and feel like ****, because I know there's nothing the doctor can do and it will improve within a few days. I must admit I used to panic a bit when my daughter was very small, and they will treat all tinies with a temperature as emergencies because the child can't tell you what's wrong and there's a very small chance that it might be something like meningitis. I got so used to being told the "wait 5 days" thing though, and never having to go back to the GP afterwards, that I now try to deal with it at home for that long before even going to the doctor.

And usually the doctor is not required then; last November though daughter had a temperature for a couple of days, then seemed to get better for a day or two, then went down with what I thought was a tummy bug for 3 days. Thought I was dealing with it quite well at home, and she seemed to get better and started eating again; then the next day woke up with temperature of 39 and wouldn't get out of bed because of so much pain; at that point I realised there must be something going on that I couldn't deal with as she wasn't getting better so we went to the GP. He instantly suspected appendicitis and packed us off to hospital for a scan to confirm the diagnosis; we then had to remain there for almost a week, she had an operation the next day to remove the offending body part and then had to have intravenous antibiotics for 5 days as it was really badly infected and had an abscess and also necrotic and gangrenous tissue 😱😱

Glad to say she recovered very quickly - and am even gladder that she can't possibly get that again!!