When faced with a respiratory infection with fever and cough, four measures could help doctors determine the appropriate treatment while reducing unnecessary prescription of antibiotics.
According to a large study published in the European Respiratory Journal, evaluating fever, pulse rate, breath sounds on auscultation, and blood oxygen levels may help doctors distinguish pneumonia from respiratory infections that do not require antibiotics.
Pneumonia is a serious infection of the lungs that often requires treatment with antibiotics. However, it is difficult to distinguish it from more common viral infections that antibiotics are not helpful for. Researchers say using four simple steps could help patients get the treatment they need while reducing unnecessary prescription of antibiotics.
The study was conducted by Michael Moore, professor of general medicine at the University of Southampton. Researchers found that certain signs and symptoms were more common in patients who contracted pneumonia.
Four differentiation criteria
Four signs are discriminating and make it possible to make the diagnosis of pneumonia: a temperature above 37.8 ° C, a crackle on auscultation of the lungs, a pulse of more than 100 beats per minute and a lower oxygen saturation in the blood. at 95%. They found that 86.1% of patients with pneumonia had at least one of these signs. Oxygen levels in the blood can be easily measured using a device called a pulse oximeter. However, pulse oximeters are relatively new to general medical practice.
Most patients with a lower respiratory tract infection recover perfectly without antibiotics, but about 60% of patients are still prescribed these drugs, with the risk of developing antibiotic resistance.
To avoid this situation, the researchers recommend the systematic analysis of these four criteria in the face of a respiratory infection to avoid unnecessary prescriptions of antibiotics.
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