Contrary to common belief, antibiotics do not help much with cough combined with expectoration of colored secretions, reports the European Respiratory Journal.
An acute cough is a common reason to see a doctor. Many people expect to be given an antibiotic and all will be well. It is believed that the coughing up of the colored secretion is indicative of a bacterial infection.
The team of prof. Chris Butler from Cardiff University conducted a survey of 3000 adult patients from 13 European countries. It turned out that doctors prescribed antibiotics more frequently for those who coughed up green or yellow secretions. However, antibiotics did not significantly speed up recovery – the difference between treated and untreated antibiotics was less than half a percentage point on the symptom severity scale.
As explained by prof. Butler, in a healthy adult, an acute cough will go away on its own without the aid of antibiotics. Other specialists remind that a cough that lasts for weeks may be a symptom of a serious illness, such as tuberculosis or lung cancer.
Overuse of antibiotics leads to the emergence of resistant strains of bacteria, which in the future may make it impossible to treat people who really need them with antibiotics. (PAP)