People venting anger at doctors not prescribing antibiotics for viral infections

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

I am in no way medically trained but feel like I know the difference between a viral infection and a proper 'needs treated with antibiotics' type infection. I have a friend who is constantly slagging off every medical person they come across over her pfb. This week he's been loaded with the cold and has developed a cough. Yes it's hard to see an under 1 year old ill but it's part and parcel of this time of year. I and a few others have gave her some advice on things that may help him but he will just have to ride it out. But of course she's had him at the GP twice this week and then ranted that she's just been fobbed off with 'viral'. She's going crazy and saying that no one is taking her seriously and that he's suffering.

AIBU to be irritated with people who believe antibiotics should be prescribed for everything?!

Landrover, so sorry for your loss.

I just hope the docs involved learn from these sorts of mistakes and act a little more cautiously in future, taking samples for checking etc. rather than just dismissing the patient out of hand.

My apparently healthy adult DN died from E.Coli infection in hospital because her GP and A&E staff didn't take her symptoms seriously until it was far too late.

Viral infections, particularly in the respiratory tract massively weaken the bodys defense system rendering it susceptible to secondary bacterial infections. So even though something starts as a virus, it does often lead to bacterial infections. I always trust my own instinct, a friend of mine who's 7 week old baby had flu symptoms was fobbed off 3 times in one week by doctors, her baby died whilst she was waiting to be seen again. There's no such thing as 'just a virus', virus's can and do kill.

There's plenty of information out there. Many people are just wilfully ignorant.

HedgehogsRevenge the point of the thread is NOT that Virus = Trivial but that many patients are angry about being refused antibiotics for a viral infection. Of course viral infections can be very serious indeed and should be treated as such. It's just that unless they develop into a bacterial infection, antibiotics are appropriate. That's not the same as saying that nothing should be done to treat any viruses.

Ooops! I left out a crucial word in my post above. The sentence should have read "It's just that unless they develop into a bacterial infection, antibiotics are not appropriate."

Deck - DS went from fine to been on cpap within the space of 12 hours with a virus so I don't think the theory about onset works, certainly not in that case

Soon antibiotics wont be effective anyway at this rate. Problem solved

It's not sensible, but when the doctor says "It's a virus so nothing I can do. NEXT!" people feel neglected. They want the doctor to do something. Especially when it's a child suffering.

Yanbu. It is a ridiculous waste of NHS resources to have a few people keep going to the GP over a cough/cold. See a pharmacist, buy some paracetamol and let your immune system fight the virus. IME these people are the first to moan about lack of GP appt availability etc, when it's their sort who clog up the system moaning about a cold.

Yes there is def a wealth of information out there. Pharmacists will now even talk and advise so it's always worth seeing them.

My point was the volume of people who go with a cold/stuffy nose/sore throat etc and then voice their anger when not given ab's.

I was speaking to work friends about this before that people just don't have common sense anymore when it comes to dealing with illness. They need hand holding from start to finish

BackOnly The thing is that unfortunately, there isn't always something to be done and carting your child/self off to the doctor every sniffle is just a waste of resources.

I'm immunosuppressed and forever picking up infections. I find all antibiotics give me diarrhoea and thrush and usually, some other equally unpleasant side effects, so am always when people insist on them.

candycoatedwaterdrops oh I agree really. People should know better.

Also kids get sick a lot, but they get over it pretty quickly in my experience. You just have to make them as comfortable as possible.

Am trying to decide if things have changed a lot. Going back to my childhood in the 50s/60s I think seeing the GP was rare. We didn't even for things like chicken pox or measles, let alone colds.

I don't know why people are so keen to take antibiotics unless they really need them.. I have chronic kidney problems (my kidneys were found to be too small for my body so I suffer cystitis almost constantly etc etc) so I am on daily long term antibiotics. The doctors also give me an additional supply (literally a carrier bag full) so that if I feel I am getting cystitis I can increase the dose myself rather than contact the gp. I nearly always suffer thrush or have an upset stomach every time I take a higher dose. It really isn't nice.

I'd love to have an immune system that works.

My daughter was diagnosed with a viral infection and 2 days later was hospitalised with an ear infection tonsillitis and a temp of 40.

Wish they had given us antibiotics!

Not at all U! I'm only pleased there are some GPs out there prepared to refuse to prescribe them.

I'm normally pretty anti ab's, so I've always been pleased that my kids have a virus rather than an infection. However my not quite 2yr old ds (dc4, well over being paranoid) is asthmatic and very prone to chest infections. He's currently been coughing and wheezing for 4 weeks. Originally with a virus, but now with chest and ear infections. He's really quite poorly at the moment.

I'd like it to be easier to access someone to listen to his chest as a pp said. It's a battle to get a regular appointment, and "emergency" ones can be hit and miss. So something reliable and easily accessible.

You're oversimplifying things.

It's not always easy to tell the difference between a viral and a bacterial infection. Doctors sometimes disagree with the same set of symptoms, and only a blood test can tell you for sure what you are dealing with. Often one leads to another, without an entirely clear cross over point (a bad cold becomes a sinus or chest infection, for example).

Of course over use of antibiotics is a problem. But IME, doctors telling patients to basically go away and wait to see if it gets worse is also a problem. If you end up at A & E (under huge pressure), or end up taking a needless few days off work when you get very poorly when antibiotics would have started recovery.

I speak as someone who had quite a few bouts of infectious mastitis with dc1, over 2 years of bf-ing. I got to know the symptoms and progress of infectious mastitis very well. Dealing with doctors who talked to me about blocked milk ducts etc as if I might be hearing about them for the first time, sending me away without antibiotics ("come back if it doesn't clear up" - well, I'm here BECAUSE it hasn't cleared up already) and putting me through several days of utter misery, pain and escalating illness and fever has made me very frustrated with doctors who needlessly withhold antibiotics. With antibiotics, infectious mastitis improves within hours, ime.

(not to gp bash, I should add that I found a sympathetic female doctor who bf-ed herself, and who was quite happy to give me antibiotics 'in case' I needed them. I could get them over the phone when it was hard to come in with children. Obviously I didn't take them if I didn't need them, but it was a lifesaver on a Saturday night when I got sudden symptoms and would have had to wait until Monday for even the chance of an appointment)