Antibiotic why finish

He suggests traditional long prescriptions for antibiotics were based on the outdated idea that resistance to an antibiotic could develop when a drug was not taken for a lengthy time and an infection was undertreated. Instead, he says, there is now growing evidence that short courses of antibiotics - lasting three to five days, for example - work just as well to treat many bugs.

He accepts there are a few exceptions - for example, giving just one type of antibiotic for TB infections - which is known to lead to rapid resistance. But the team says it is important to move away from blanket prescriptions and, with more research, give antibiotic prescriptions that are tailored to each infection and each person. The study acknowledges that hospitals are increasingly reviewing the need for antibiotics from day to day and that there is a growing trend towards shorter courses of drugs.

But it questions whether advice such as stopping once feeling better would be beneficial - particularly when patients do not get the opportunity to be reviewed in the hospital every day. Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard, leader of the Royal College of General Practitioners, says while it is important to take new evidence into account, she "cannot advocate widespread behaviour change on the results of just one study". She says recommended courses of antibiotics are "not random" but tailored to individual conditions and in many cases courses are quite short.

And she says: "We are concerned about the concept of patients stopping taking their medication mid-way through a course once they 'feel better', because improvement in symptoms does not necessarily mean the infection has been completely eradicated. Meanwhile, Kieran Hand, spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: "This opinion article from respected NHS infection experts is a welcome opening of the debate in the UK on the relationship between the length of a course of antibiotics, efficacy and resistance.

Last updated: November 14, Sharing is Nice Yes, send me a copy of this email. Send We respect your privacy. Oops, we messed up. Try again later. When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. Learn more. When to Say No to Antibiotics for Infections. The Danger of Leftover Antibiotics. Have you talked with your doctor about taking fewer antibiotics?

Tell us about it in the comments below. What Is a Superbug? Show comments commenting powered by Facebook. Changing this will simply confuse people. To update policies, we need further research to inform them. This article is more than 4 years old. The experts say there has been too little research into the optimal time for which antibiotics should be taken. Without action on antibiotics, medicine will return to the dark ages Ed Whiting. Read more. Reuse this content.