Using antibiotics frugally

10 October 2014: the first annual report of Public Health England’s English Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance was published, showing a 6% increase between 2010 and 2013 in the prescribing of antibiotics by GPs and hospitals. Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, Royal Pharmaceutical Society spokesperson Kieran Hand said: “Inevitably, bacteria will become resistant to the antibiotics that are used frequently. One of the most important things we can do is use these drugs frugally and only when they are absolutely necessary. In many cases, the antibiotics are being prescribed for patients with viral infections and they will not respond to antibiotics.”

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ, 18 October 2014, Vol 293, No 7832;293(7832):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2014.20066796

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