ANTIBIOTIC USE IN UPPER RESPIRATORY-TRACT INFECTIONS IN NEW-ZEALAND

Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are a common reason for pre sentation to general practitioners. The current study used computerise d consultation records of 100 222 patients from 17 general practices i n New Zealand for the 12-month period 1 July 1991-30 June 1992. URTIs were noted in 8.9% of all consultations: 44.1% of cases were children aged less than 10 years. Females presented more frequently than males for all ages above five years. Fifteen different antibiotics were pres cribed for URTIs, but in 22.5% of cases no antibiotic was prescribed. There was no statistically significant difference in the likelihood of a successful outcome with or without antibiotic therapy (chi(2) = 0.7 6, P > 0.05). The treatment failure profile of some antibiotics highli ghts the need for more prescriber education, especially as the range o f medications available for general practitioner prescribing increases .