Antimicrobial treatment of upper respiratory tract infections from the Dutch perspective

The worldwide problem of multiple resistant strains should be attacked by a more adequate, rational prescription behaviour of antibiotics. As most upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) have a viral cause and are selflimiting, antibiotics should be used for certain indications only. The development of evidence based guidelines, based on outcome studies in the field of URTIs carried out in general practice populations is recommended. The general practitioners (GPs) with defined practice populations are in a key position for research and a restrictive antibiotic policy. Several RCTs are carried out in general practice indicating that antibiotic prescriptions can be reduced. This will contribute to the decrease of resistant strains. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.