Antibiotic Prescription in Acute Bronchitis

Excerpts from the Paper

Antibiotic Prescription in Acute Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is a self-limiting upper respiratory illness that causes inflammation of the bronchial lining. The inflammation is usually caused by viruses and antibiotics are not needed as part of the treatment. Health professionals often prescribe antibiotics because patients expect antibiotics as part of the treatment (Wong, Blumberg & Lowe, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to discuss why antibiotics should be withheld in most cases of acute bronchitis and the role of patient education in reducing the amount of unnecessary use of antibiotics for treatment.
Prevalence and epidemiology
The prevalence of acute bronchitis in a study by Macfarlane et al. (2001) was 44 per 1000 adults per...

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