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Although clinical guidelines have repeatedly advised against the routine prescription of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URIs), the practice continues. In the U.K., for example, 47% of patients presenting with URIs at a primary care setting in 2000 received such prescriptions. Using records from the U.K. General Practice Research Database for July 1991 through June 2001, investigators analyzed 3.36 million outpatient visits for respiratory infections to determine whether antibiotics given at the first visit played an important role in preventing serious complications during the month after diagnosis.
Complications (i.e., mastoiditis after otitis media, peritonsillar abscess after sore throat, or pneumonia after URI) occurred ra…