World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week: 5-day course length for Amoxicillin
Research demonstrates that short courses of antibiotics are as effective as longer courses in treating patients with uncomplicated infections (Lee et al, 2023), (Garwan et al, 2023). Five-day courses are recommended when antibiotics are indicated for sinusitis, sore throat, COPD infective exacerbation, cough (acute), pneumonia (community-acquired) and otitis media.
Prescribing data shows that the shortest effective courses of antibiotics are not consistently prescribed and across general practice, there is considerable variation and possible health inequality in patient exposure to the harms of antibiotics and the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
All practices are encouraged to prescribe antibiotics for the shortest effective course in line with the Antimicrobial prescribing table (rcgp.org.uk) and the TARGET Antibiotic and diagnostic quick reference tools to reduce selection pressure for antimicrobial resistance and inadvertent patient harm from antibiotic treatment.
As of December 2022, nationally 5-day courses account for 44% of amoxicillin 500 mg capsule prescription items dispensed in primary care. The national aspiration is to achieve 75% of amoxicillin prescribed as 5-day courses
SUBTITLE – World AMR Awareness Week Full Video SEL (vimeo.com)