Respiratory tract symptoms e.g. sore throat, flu, cough and nasal congestion are a common reason for patients presenting to a doctor. It is known from research that the vast majority of these illnesses are viral in nature. The treatment for these is to reduce the symptoms. Unfortunately, antibiotics do not work against viruses and if taken without a need, can lead to problems like unnecessary side effects and resistance which means that they may not work when they are really needed. Local studies from UAE suggest that antibiotic resistance is increasing ⁽¹⁾. We have recently conducted a survey regarding use of medications by patients prior to seeing a doctor. We found that nearly 14% of the times patient had used an antibiotic for respiratory symptoms before seeing a doctor and these did not give any symptom relief.

We would like to highlight that antibiotics are best used when they are absolutely needed. In particular, care should be taken in special situations e.g. when people are taking other medications that could interact with antibiotics (like the cholesterol lowering medications called statins), pregnancy, breast feeding and allergy status. The use of correct dosage of antibiotics and for the correct time period, when appropriate, is also very important as often then illness can remain quiet for some time if the above are not adhered to and then there can be relapse of the illness, possibly even requiring further different antibiotics!

 Our suggestion would be that if you are worried about your symptoms, then to consult your doctor. Please remember that coughs and colds usually have a time period and often these would settle even without the need of any medications. For a few where symptoms are severe, symptomatic treatment like pain killers, throat and nasal sprays etc can be appropriate initially rather than use of antibiotics.

 Reference:
1. Antimicrobial resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae isolates in the United Arab Emirates: 2004-2006. Journal of Infection in Developing  Countries. 2007 Dec 1;1(3):296-302.

Dr. Salman Karim, GP