Antibiotics Did Not Reduce Severity, Duration Of Coughing Among Patients With Bacterial Infection, Study Finds

HealthDay (4/15, Thompson) reports physicians “sometimes prescribe antibiotics to help treat a cough, but a new study shows the drugs won’t help reduce the severity or duration of coughing – even if a bacterial infection is the culprit.” In a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, “about 29% of people were prescribed an antibiotic during their initial medical visit, but the drugs had no effect on their cough compared to those who didn’t get a prescription.”