Antibiotics Are Rarely Indicated for Respiratory Tract Infections

Concern for antibiotic resistance remains high, yet antibiotics can prevent severe infections in selected cases. Researchers retrospectively analyzed data from 3.36 million episodes of respiratory tract infection entered into the U.K. General Practice Research Database during 10 years to assess the effect of antibiotic use on rates of serious complications.

Among more than 1 million episodes each of upper respiratory tract infection and sore throat and nearly half a million cases of otitis media, the risk for serious complications (pneumonia, peritonsillar abscess, and mastoiditis, respectively) during the month after diagnosis was low in patients who were not prescribed antibiotics. This risk was reduced significantly with antibiotics, but …