Source: Washington Post
A new study found that more than half of patients who visit urgent care centers are given antibiotics when they don’t need them, posing health dangers for individuals and the public at large.
Published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the study found that antibiotic “overuse” is a growing problem across the globe, where patients are being prescriped antibiotics in cases when they could use other potent drugs.
At least one-third of antibiotics prescribed in the U.S. are not needed, according to a 2016 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research focused on instances in which clinics and urgent care centers prescribed antibiotics to patients who would not respond to antibiotics, such as those with asthma, allergies or colds, for example.
In Urgent Care centers across the U.S., the percentage of those who have been inappropriately diagnosed is at least 45 percent of those who have been given antibiotics.
Read Full Story: Washington Post