The advice to finish your course of antibiotics, even if you feel better, is being challenged by a group of experts.
A controversial new article, published in the British Medical Journal yesterday, has warned that the 'complete the course' guideline could be doing more harm than good.
The research team led by two top infectious disease experts has claimed there is little scientific evidence to back up the advice – and has warned that the policy could be driving human resistance to the medicine.
For decades GPs have urged patients to finish the entire packet - even after their symptoms have gone away – and today, a number of medical associations have voiced concern that the conflicting advice could leave patients confused.
Dr Nuala O'Connor, antibiotics expert at the Irish College of General Practitioners said patients should always follow the advice of their doctor.
“The message that was interpreted in the newspapers [this morning] was that you should stop antibiotics once you feel better and I think that is incorrect and that would be misleading to patients,” she said.
“What it is is that you should take the course of antibiotics as prescribed and that doctors need to be careful that they only prescribe the necessary course of antibiotics for a particular patient for a particular condition.”
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard of the British Royal College of GPs said the article was “an interesting editorial” but warned "nothing has changed" for patients in terms of the antibiotics doctors will prescribe - or how long patients should take them for.
