The misuse of antibiotics can have serious health consequences, in addition to being an unnecessary expense and not curing the patient, therefore it is important to raise awareness about cases in which it is really necessary to prescribe them.
Pediatricians know when to prescribe them to a child, but they can be wrong since there are difficult cases to distinguish, therefore the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap) has asked the Ministry of Health to provide pediatric consultations of the centers of health of a test that detects when to give antibiotics.
This is a rapid test for the detection of streptococcal antigen, similar to the test strips that are already used to confirm urine infections.
As you know, when there is a virus, the antibiotic is of no use, it only cures diseases caused by infections of bacterial origin, mostly by streptococcus, such as tonsillitis, bacterial pharyngitis or some ear infections (not all).
The reagent test would be a simple and effective method to detect a bacterial infection and then prescribe the antibiotic without error. On the contrary, when the test is negative, do not administer an antibiotic unnecessarily.
A good idea considering that Spain is one of the European countries where more antibiotics are prescribed and the child population registers the highest rates of bacterial resistance.
