Cough - use antibiotics or drink water?

If you have a severe cough in the short period, what will you do: go to the doctor and get a prescription or lie in bed and drink plenty of water? A recent study supported the second way.

(Photo: flickr.com) In the New England Journal of Medicine , yesterday, two doctors from the University of Virginia (USA) said that a thorough study based on existing studies and tests was discovered. There is no evidence to support prescribing antibiotics for acute bronchitis.

Acute bronchitis is a short and short-term infection in the bronchi (small tubes that carry air into the lungs). Acute bronchitis causes swelling and increased secretion (sputum) which causes difficulty breathing. The disease occurs in about 5% of adults each year.

According to the researchers, most cases are caused by viral infection and there is no reaction to antibiotics. They also found some evidence that cough medicine, also commonly prescribed for most cases of acute bronchitis, did not work.

" We think that most cases do not need to use antibiotics ," said Dr. Richard Wenzel, director of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia, adding that most of the illnesses have gone away. a few days or a week, and advise patients to rest and drink plenty of water.

According to the researchers, unnecessary antibiotic use also contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, leading to a reduction in their effects on the treatment of infections.

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