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Antibiotics Still Overused in Treating Sinusitis
The Washington Post reports that antibiotics are still being prescribed for seven out of ten patients with chronic sinusitis and eight out of ten with acute sinus infections, even though research has proved that more than 90 percent of sinus infections are caused by viruses - not bacteria.
"Prescription antibiotic drugs are being used far more than bacterial causes would indicate," wrote authors of a new study published last week in the Archives of Otolaryngology.
The overuse of antibiotics is a major problem - perhaps even a public health crisis - because it's creating strains of drug-resistant bacteria. In the United States, sinus infections account for an astounding 21 percent of all antibiotic prescriptions.
There is no quick swab test that determines whether an infection is bacterial or viral: To figure that out, doctors must consider the severity of symptoms and the duration of the infection.
Some doctors think that antibiotics are being overprescribed because patients demand them when they are sick.
"Probably to save time, I will often knuckle under and give them the antibiotics, just because it's what they want," says Dr. Donald Leopold of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Dr. Matthew Mintz of the George Washington University School of Medicine agrees that patient demand plays a role: "We have advertisements on television from drug companies that basically tell you to ask your doctor for a pill. We are a pill society. We want a pill to fix our problems."
David Fairbanks, a spokesman for the American Academy of Otolaryngology, says physicians don't have time to spend 15 minutes with each patient explaining the public health implications of drug-resistant bacteria, so they write the prescription instead.
If you get a sinus infection, Fairbanks suggests trying to hold off on antibiotics for five to seven days after symptoms begin, and give your body a chance to fight off the infection. The overuse of antiobiotics only gives bacteria more of an opportunity to develop resistance to the drug, and according to the FDA, researchers fear that we may be nearing an end to the seemingly endless flow of antimicrobial drugs.
During those five to seven days without antibiotics, try sinus relief products like sinus washes to reduce swelling and restore moisture to inflamed sinuses.Posted by Craig on Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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