Sore throat? Antibiotics most likely won’t help you, experts say, and overuse is causing deadly resistance that’s become a leading global killer
- People rely on antibiotics far too much for common illnesses and 45 per cent of under-35s don’t know how else to treat a sore throat, study finds
- Most sore throats are caused by viruses, which antibiotics cannot kill; the immune system will help the vast majority of cases heal within a week
A sore throat is a huge irritant – it can play havoc with your productivity and during Covid times, it’s also a source of fear. That’s why many turn to antibiotics at the first sign of one coming on.
People worldwide have a high level of dependence on antibiotics, especially when it comes to treating common respiratory conditions such as sore throats, a new global study suggests.
The results of the study, called Sore Throat and Antibiotic Resistance, were unveiled during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week in late November by the Global Respiratory Infection Partnership (GRIP).
The findings suggest that there’s a great deal of misunderstanding around how to treat sore throats, leading to antibiotic overuse.
The study, conducted in May, surveyed 12,000 people from 12 countries aged 18 to 64 who had experienced respiratory symptoms that they had treated in the past six months.
A thousand people were surveyed in each country, covering Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and the UK.
