Antibiotics Over-Prescribed for Sinus Infections
According to the results of a study published recently in the medical
journal Lancet, many physicians are overprescribing antibiotics for sinus
infections. One report indicates that in the US, 80% of the people who
go to their doctor with a sinus infection are prescribed an antibiotic.
While antibiotics are designed to work against bacteria, they are not
effective against viruses. While either bacteria or viruses can cause
sinusitis, antibiotics are overprescribed since viruses cause a relatively
large number of sinus infections. Researchers connected with the study
indicate that antibiotics are not justified if the symptoms being reported
last for a long time such as for weeks.
Last year, a British study reported in The Journal of the American
Medical Associated indicated that neither antibiotics nor steroid sprays
offered much help to adults with sinus infections. The authors of that
study point out that when antibiotics are prescribed and they do not
work well, they potentially add to the ongoing problem of drug-resistant
bacteria developing in the very patients being treated.