Why finishing antibiotics is important

Analysis: Antibiotic apocalypse. World's most threatening superbugs ranked in new list. Oral sex spreading unstoppable bacteria. The opinion piece, by a team of researchers from across England, argues that reducing the use of antibiotics is essential to help combat the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Prof Martin Llewelyn, from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, together with colleagues, argues that using antibiotics for longer than necessary can increase the risk of resistance.

He suggests traditional long prescriptions for antibiotics were based on the outdated idea that resistance to an antibiotic could develop when a drug was not taken for a lengthy time and an infection was undertreated. Instead, he says, there is now growing evidence that short courses of antibiotics - lasting three to five days, for example - work just as well to treat many bugs.

He accepts there are a few exceptions - for example, giving just one type of antibiotic for TB infections - which is known to lead to rapid resistance. But the team says it is important to move away from blanket prescriptions and, with more research, give antibiotic prescriptions that are tailored to each infection and each person. The study acknowledges that hospitals are increasingly reviewing the need for antibiotics from day to day and that there is a growing trend towards shorter courses of drugs.

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By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Watkins RR, et al. Overview: Global and local impact of antibiotic resistance. However, there are clearly circumstances where antibiotics should be given for extended periods. It is very clear that prescribing practices do need to change; there is every indication that current volumes of antibiotic usage are too high to be sustainable.

We need to start to use antibiotics more wisely before it's too late. The longer we delay, the worse the resistance problem will become. This review raises some interesting points and the guidelines around antibiotic treatments may change in the future. However, for now it's best to stick with current advice to complete the full antibiotic course as prescribed. Accept and close. Medication Questions over advice to finish courses of antibiotics.

Who produced this review? What is antibiotic resistance? What does this review say? In summary, the review raises the following points: Only a limited number of studies have investigated the minimum treatment period needed for antibiotics to be effective.

There is little or poor evidence to support the idea that shorter treatments would lead to an increased risk of antibiotic resistance or treatment failure. The authors do, however, acknowledge that some trials have found that for certain conditions, shorter treatment has compromised recovery. Always prescribing a fixed number of days for a course of antibiotics can potentially overlook individual patient characteristics, such as the fact that some patients may respond differently to the antibiotics.

For example, a patient's previous antibiotic exposure is not necessarily considered. It is difficult to test the theory that a shorter antibiotic course may be just as effective as a longer one, because the importance of completing a full course of antibiotic treatment is so deeply embedded in both doctors and patients.