A new study emerged, published in the
BMJ has countered this by suggesting that this direction is not based on
evidence.
The study actively argues against the
“complete the course” mantra, suggesting that patients should instead stop
taking the medication when they feel back to full health. The researchers suggest
that the long-held belief to fully complete a course of antibiotics has been
held under the presumption that this was the safest route to ensure that
mutations in bacteria did not occur.
Now, they postulate that this may be the
exact opposite of what would happen – with longer courses ensuring that
bacteria are unnecessarily exposed to antibiotics, increasing the opportunity
for them to mutate.
The researchers recommend that shorter
courses should be delivered to patients and that the length of the regimen
should be determined by the evidence, either on existing data or by undertaking
clinical trials to better evaluate this.
At the heart of the debate is the
growing threat of antibiotic resistance, as more evidence emerges from around
the world of the growing inefficacy of many forms of antibiotics, including so
called ‘last-resort’ antibiotics.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of
the RCGP, responded to the study: “We are concerned about the concept of
patients stopping taking their medication mid-way through a course once they
‘feel better’, because improvement in symptoms does not necessarily mean the
infection has been completely eradicated. It’s important that patients have
clear messages and the mantra to always take the full course of antibiotics is
well known – changing this will simply confuse people.”
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle