Epidemiologists at The University of Manchester have discovered an association between the number of prescriptions for antibiotics and a higher risk of hospital admissions.
The study, published in BMC Medicine and funded by The National Institute for Health Research and the Connected Health Cities Programme, is based on the data of 2 million patients in England and Wales.
Patients who have had 9 or more antibiotic prescriptions for common infections in the previous 3 years are, say the team, 2.26 times more likely to go to hospital with another infection in three or more months
Interesting, and a bit worrying for us. My husband had seven courses of antibiotics in not many more weeks over Dec/Jan, chest infections due mainly to bronchiectasis. We’re feeling concerned, but what can you do if the infection persists, despite samples etc? He’s had blood tests focused on kidney function which are apparently not causing concern, but his tum hasn’t settled yet, about five weeks on. Thankfully, his chest has! 👍 Thanks for posting 2greys.
Interesting but they say they don't know why this is. One theory thy gave is that antibiotics kill the gut bacteria and may make us more susceptible. True - which is why it is necessary to recolonise the gut after a course of antibiotics.
Another reason may be that people who have a lot of antibiotics have a lower immune system and are then more likely to require more than the average. Why they have a lower immune system also needs to be looked into.
They seem to have hypothesized the erroneous connection that giving less antibiotics will lead to the need for less. (They mention that doctors give them when it may be viral not bacterial). That is probably fine and good if you can recover without antibiotics but I would hate to think that people who need antibiotics to recover are denied them or that doctors feel obliged to curtail their use of antibiotics.
Hopefully doctors who give antibiotics also prescribe probiotics and prebiotics.
I have always (for the last four years) had to get prescription to replace my rescue pack from the GP when needed. Which I find is a good thing because I get the opportunity to be examined, to make sure any infection has been cleared properly. I am lucky and so far have just one chest infection per year. (Not wanting to tempt fate again, by saying that). You should see it that way too, much better to be safe than sorry.
Even if you changed your surgery the first thing that would happen is you would need an appointment to be seen before getting a prescription. As it stands there would be a low risk of contracting Covid-19 at the moment, there are only 50 odd cases of it with a population of 65 million.
I must admit - I'm lucky. My GP understands that I need them. Having said that, I don't require them very often. Maybe once a year. But it's good to have them in the rescue pack as when sick I don't feel well enough to visit a doctor or sit in a cold waiting room for an hour.
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