Current use of antibiotics in English primary care is still high

Recently published study offers new insights into the current use of antibiotics in English primary care in 2013-15. The majority, nearly 70%, of all prescriptions were for acute conditions, including cough, sore throat as well as lower and upper respiratory tract infections. Among specific conditions, antibiotics were most often prescribed for urinary tract infections (20,6%), cough (10,4%) and lower respiratory tract infection (8,2%). However, in almost one-third of all prescriptions no clinical condition was documented. The study supports the earlier findings on needed policies on the reduction of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, such as defining target indications for prescribing reductions.

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Reference: https://academic.oup.com/jac/article/73/suppl_2/ii2/4841822

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