German doctors careful with antibiotics

Project seeks to suppress resistance / antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in Europe differs

STOCKHOLM (grue). The prescription of antibiotics is different in the different European countries. Sun Hungarian GP to prescribe some medications for these respiratory infections more often than colleagues in Scandinavia or Germany. And most Britons choose amoxicillin, doxycycline prefer the Dutch, the Italians fluoroquinolones.


Whether patients with respiratory infections take antibiotics or not - on the course has the most influence.

Such differences in antibiotic prescribing examines the network GRACE ×, which is funded by the EU with 11.5 million euros. "Because there is no guidance on the use of antibiotics, the doctors proceed differently," said Professor Herman Goossens GRACE coordinator of Antwerp. "Because it is easier at high antibiotic use leads to resistance, which is now submitted inventory make the delicate points clear," he said at the congress in Stockholm pulmonologists. Altogether more than 600 family physicians from twelve countries participating in the project. They reported in the winter season 2006/2007 a total of 3402 patients with acute bronchitis, mild fever and cough symptom. More than 70 percent also had typical symptoms such as sputum, rhinitis, malaise and disturbed sleep.



53 percent of patients were prescribed antibiotics, the doctors from England, Poland, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia to the most frequently attacked prescription pad. Scandinavian and Belgian doctors behaved rather restrictive; German doctors were in the midfield.

The most commonly prescribed antibiotic was amoxicillin (29 percent), followed by amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (15 percent). The use of antibiotics had reported no significant effect on the state four days after the initial presentation, Professor Christopher Butler of Cardiff. However some doctors who prescribe a lot of antibiotics, usually a very different view. "They said that their patients better faster with antibiotics, which has not been confirmed in the observational study, however," Butler said.

× GRACE: Genomics to Combat Resistance against Antibiotics in Community-aquired Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Europe