This is a new guideline from NICE on when to prescribe antibiotics for coughs. It only covers those with acute coughs and doesn’t include COPD patients (they are covered in a separate guideline).
I was surprised by some of the evidence base here and what may work and what may not work, so I will cover some of this.
The only real learning points for me otherwise were:
- Coughs normally last 3-4/52 (I would probably have given a shorter estimate than this).
- A 5 day course of antibiotics is recommended. In adults, doxycycline should be used first line, though amoxicillin, clarithromycin and erythromycin can be used too.
