ANTIBIOTICS OVERPRESCRIBED FOR SINUS INFECTIONS


CHICAGO - U.S. doctors may be over-prescribing antibiotics for sinus infections, which are often caused by viruses and not bacteria, according to a study released Monday.

A review of two national surveys of visits to doctors and recommended treatments found antibiotics prescribed for about 82 percent of acute sinus infections and nearly 70 percent of chronic sinus infections, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha said.

That “far outweighs the predicted incidence of bacterial causes. The literature repeatedly shows that viruses are by far the most frequent cause of acute rhinosinusitis,” the study, published in this week’s Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, said.


The infections are considered acute when symptoms persist up to a month. They become chronic when they last for three months or more.

Overuse of antibiotics, which are useless against viruses, is causing the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria that must be treated with the most expensive new antibiotics.

But many patients with sinus infections demand an antibiotic, Dr. Hadley Sharp and colleagues said. As many as one-fifth of antibiotic prescriptions for adults are written for a drug to treat sinusitis.

The high level of antibiotic use may partly come from doctors treating secondary infections, Sharp’s team said.

“The vast use of these agents makes the statement that they seem to be effective ... or they would have been abandoned,” the researchers wrote.

It is also possible that many sinus infections will simply clear up on their own, the researchers added.

“While keeping the goals of treatment in mind, there are concerns about the overuse of antibiotics and the resultant problems, including drug resistance and increasingly virulent bacteria,” they wrote.


MAHFUZUR REHMAN
mzrehmanpk@hotmail.com

Bohat Malomato Post hay mahfuzur rehman bhai, bohtoon ka Bhalla hoga
Thanks for sharing

Very informative post

Keep sharing
khush rehain
Regards
Usman

yahan france main tu lagta hey ke antibiotic deney pe pabandi hey,,,, bohat shadeed qisim ki infection main daitey hain,,,,,,, aur infants ko tu shaid daitey hi nahin

Well AZADAANA antibiotics ka use sirf hamaray yah aisian countries main hi hay I think,, jahan Abx daina lazim-o-malzom samjha jaata hay,, warna UK / USA waghaira main tu isay as a last resort hi rakha jaata hay...

masala woh hi , self-medication and lougoon ki had say ziada jald-bazii---- k jald az jald theek hu jaayain, chahaay kuch bhi use karain.....

I think doctors are habitual in providing the antibiotics to the patients in PAKISTAN.When ever I think or as i know in western countries antibiotics are not given to the patients and treat them from such a medicines which does not hampers the patients.And if it is necessary and without that they cannot treat the patients,at that time they use antibiotics as a special case otherwise not.

ANTIBIOTIC HAS SO MANY SIDE EFFECTS.SO BETTER TO AVOID ANTIBIOTIC AND DOCTORS ALSO THINK THEMSELVES BEFORE PRESCRIBING THE ANTIBIOTIS TO THE PATIENTS.

Mahfuzur Rehman