Information Leaflet and Antibiotic Prescribing Strategies for Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Abstract
Acute lower respiratory tract illness is the most common condition treated in primary care.1,2 Assuming 75% of patients are prescribed antibiotics1 and using conservative national morbidity survey estimates,2 acute cough costs the UK National Health Service at least US $270 million in consultation costs and US $35 million to 70 million antibiotic prescription costs annually. In the United States, excess antibiotic prescribing is mainly for pharyngitis and acute bronchitis, amounting to 55% of prescriptions and costing $726 million per year.3