This is a new guideline from NICE on the initial assessment and management of patients over the age of 16 with a suspected lower respiratory tract infection. It was published in Oct 2023.
It is important to note that the guideline doesn’t cover:
- Patients under 16
- Patients after the initial presentation
- Patients with COVID.
- Antimicrobial prescribing in patients presenting with a cough (although it does cover when to consider prescribing).
- Antimicrobial prescribing in acute exacerbations of COPD (though again it does cover a bit about patients with COPD).
- Antimicrobial prescribing in sore throats and sinusitis.
If you want to remind yourselves of any of the above, see the below links for my blogs on them:
