Clinicians who prescribe unnecessary antibiotics fuel future antibiotic use

Receipt of antibiotics for acute respiratory infections makes it more likely that patients and their families will seek care and receive antibiotics for future respiratory viral infections. In the year after their visit, patients randomly assigned to clinicians who prescribed more antibiotics got 15 percent more antibiotics for viral respiratory infections compared with patients seen by clinicians who prescribed the fewest antibiotics. Antibiotics work against bacteria but not against viruses, and improper use can make bacteria resistant to these drugs.