Antibiotics Grossly Overprescribed for Sinus Infections

OMAHA, Neb., March 19 -- Antibiotics are prescribed for 70% to 80% of sinus infections even though most are caused by viruses, researchers here reported.
The use of antibiotics for acute and chronic rhinosinusitis far outweighs the predicted prevalence of bacterial causes of these conditions, reported Hadley Sharp, B.S., and Donald Leopold, M.D., of the University of Nebraska here, and colleagues, in the March issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
Given the concern about antibiotic resistance and increasingly virulent bacteria, when two-thirds of patients with sinus symptoms expect or receive an antibiotic, these disorders hold special pertinence.
The researchers used data for 1999 to 2002 from two national surveys (the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/URItheFlu/tb1/5278