Although antibiotics are occasionally prescribed by doctors to treat coughs, a recent study reveals that the treatments are ineffective in reducing the intensity or length of coughing, even in cases where bacterial infections are the cause
Lead researcher Dr. Dan Merenstein is a family medicine professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and he said that lower respiratory tract infections that cause coughing have the potential to worsen. 3% to 5% of these individuals develop pneumonia.
According to a Georgetown news release, Merenstein stated, “But not everyone has easy access at an initial visit to an X-ray, which may be the reason clinicians still give antibiotics without any other evidence of a bacterial infection.” According to Merenstein, some patients now anticipate receiving antibiotics for a cough.
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Antibiotics Probably Won’t Make Your Cough Better
Researchers monitored the use of antibiotics in patients with lower respiratory tract infections to determine whether they had any effect.
Approximately 29% of patients received an antibiotic prescription at their first visit; however, compared to those who did not, the medication had no effect on their cough.
Whether or not they received an antibiotic, it also took the same length of time for patients to recover from their infection: roughly 17 days.
The latest research was released in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on April 15.
Researchers have observed that the overuse of antibiotics is raising the possibility that harmful bacteria will develop drug resistance.
“Physicians are aware of, but likely overestimate, the proportion of bacterial lower tract infections,” according to researcher and University of Georgia College of Public Health professor Dr. Mark Ebell. “It is also possible that they overestimate their capacity to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections.”
According to Merenstein, this study emphasizes the necessity for additional research on coughing.
“We are aware that a cough may signal a major issue. With around 3 million outpatient visits and over 4 million ER visits each year, it is the most frequent illness-related reason for an ambulatory care visit, according to Merenstein.
Although this study was observational and there haven’t been any randomized clinical trials, additional research is needed to understand how to manage severe cough symptoms.
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