Antibiotics do little to ease acute cough with discolored phlegm

Acute cough is one of the most common complaints prompting patient visits to their GP and antibiotics are more frequently prescribed for those suffering acute cough with discolored phlegm.

Antibiotics do little to ease acute cough
But recent research by the Cardiff University has revealed that prescribing antibiotics for patients with acute cough which produces green or yellow phlegm has little or no effect on relieving its symptoms or speeding recovery.

The study authors say both clinicians and patients commonly believe that yellow and green phlegm is associated with bacterial infection, which is more likely to benefit from antibiotics than a cough with none or clear-coloured phlegm.

However, Professor Chris Butler and his team from Cardiff University's School of Medicine, who carried out the study together with colleagues from 14 European centers found in their study that antibiotic treatment had little or no effect on the acute cough or easing its symptoms and recovery.

Study details
To reach their findings, Butler and colleagues analyzed data from 3,402 adult patients with acute cough presenting for healthcare in 14 primary care networks.

They found that patients producing discoloured phlegm are prescribed antibiotics more often than those not producing phlegm unlike those producing clear/white phlegm.

Study findings
In the study, the antibiotic treatment in producing discolored phlegm has been found not associated with greater rate or magnitude of symptoms score resolution.

The study also showed that the antibiotic prescription exposes people to many other side effects, and does not help in recovering acute cough.

“One of the exciting things about this research is that our findings from this large, multi-country observational study resonate with findings from randomised trials where benefit from antibiotic treatment in those producing discoloured phlegm has been found to be marginal at best or non-existent,” said professor Butler.

“Our findings add weight to the message that acute cough in otherwise well adults is a self-limiting condition and antibiotic treatment does not speed recovery to any meaningful extent.

“In fact, antibiotic prescribing in this situation simply unnecessarily exposes people to side effects from antibiotics, undermines future self care, and drives up antibiotic resistance,” he added.

The study authors reported their findings in the 'European Respiratory Journal.'