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Treatment of upper respiratory infections: do patients really want antibiotics?

1999; Elsevier BV; Volume: 107; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0002-9343(99)00270-3

1555-7162

John S Hong, John T. Philbrick, John B. Schorling,

Antibiotic Use and Resistance

Although most upper respiratory infections are caused by viruses, approximately 60% of patients who visit a physician for this condition receive antibiotic treatment ( 1 Gonzales R Steiner J.F Sande M.A Antibiotic prescribing for adults with colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis by ambulatory care physicians. JAMA. 1997; 278: 901-904 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar , 2 Gwaltney J The common cold. in: Mandell G Douglas R Bennett J Principles and Practice of Infectious Disease. Churchill Livingstone, New York, NY1990: 489-493 Google Scholar , 3 Mainous III, A.G Zoorob R.J Oler M.J Haynes D.M Patient knowledge of upper respiratory infections implications for antibiotic expectations and unnecessary utilization. J Family Practice. 1997; 45: 75-83 PubMed Google Scholar ). This inappropriate use of antibiotics is believed to be a major factor in the development of antibiotic resistance ( 4 Bartlett J.G Froggatt III, J.W Antibiotic resistance. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1993; 121: 392-396 Crossref Scopus (26) Google Scholar , 5 Hofmann J Cetron M.S Farley M.M The prevalence of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumonia in Atlanta. NEJM. 1995; 333: 481-486 Crossref PubMed Scopus (492) Google Scholar , 6 Ballow C.H Schentag J.J Trends in antibiotic utilization and bacterial resistance. Report of the national nosocomial resistance surveillance group. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1992; 15: 37-42 Google Scholar , 7 McCaig L.F Hughes J.M Trends in antimicrobial drug prescribing among office-based physicians in the United States. JAMA. 1995; 273: 214-219 Crossref PubMed Scopus (746) Google Scholar , 8 Neu H.C The crisis in antibiotic resistance. Science. 1992; 257: 1064-1073 Crossref PubMed Scopus (2376) Google Scholar ), leading to concerns that antibiotics will become less effective ( 9 Arranz-Caso J.A Sole N Sanchez-Atrio A Gomez-Herruz P Penicillin-intermediate-resistant Pneumococcal spondylodiscitis. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 1996; 26: 137-139 Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar ).