The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, England’s drug rating body, and Public Health England have issued new guidelines that say: “Clinicians are advised in most cases not to offer antibiotics as they make little difference to a person’s symptoms.
There are self-care products people can take to manage their symptoms themselves.
“Honey or cough medicines have some evidence of benefit for the relief of cough symptoms which people may wish to try before contacting a health professional.”
Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, said: “Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem and we need to take action now to reduce antibiotic use. Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them puts you and your family at risk of developing infections which in turn cannot be easily treated.
“These new guidelines will support GPs to reduce antibiotic prescriptions and we encourage patients to take their GP’s advice about self-care.”
Dr Tessa Lewis, a family GP and chair of the antimicrobial prescribing guideline group, said: “If someone has a runny nose, sore throat and cough we would expect the cough to settle over two to three weeks and antibiotics are not needed.
“If the cough is getting worse rather than better, or the person feels very unwell, they would need to contact their GP.”