Useless antibiotics with most cases of bronchitis

Most people with bronchitis are prescribed at least one antibiotic when they visit a doctor's office. But according to a recent study, antibiotics have no effect on most patients.

A picture of the lungs of a patient with bronchitis.(Photo: Johnson-county)

Two experts at Virginia Commonwealth Medical University looked at the results of hundreds of studies, trials and all the scientific literature related to bronchitis as well as how to treat the disease.

The analysis of thousands of pages of documents shows that, in most cases of bronchitis, doctors should not prescribe antibiotics to patients.

"Bronchitis arises when small airways in the lungs become infected. Until now, we have not had any specific treatment. That is the reason why antibiotics are prescribed for patients. Bronchitis became common, "said Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, one of the two researchers. He said doctors could put antibiotics into prescriptions in cases of bronchitis caused by bacteria, such as a persistent cough. But the incidence of bacterial bronchitis is very small.

According to Wenzel estimates, in the US, about 70-80% of patients with bronchitis are prescribed antibiotics for 5 to 10 days. Such dosage is too much.

Wenzel said doctors should not prescribe antibiotics to patients for three reasons. First, prescriptions with antibiotics often cost people.

"Secondly, all antibiotics have side effects, such as allergies, diarrhea and abdominal pain. These unwanted effects are only acceptable if they help patients improve their health. strong, " Wenzel commented.

Thirdly, every time a patient uses a certain antibiotic, the number of resistant strains of bacteria in their body will increase, making the antibiotic in use become useless next time.

Viet Linh