More evidence needed before upper respiratory tract point-of-care microbiological testing for respiratory infections is used in primary care
Beth Stuart, Alastair D. Hay
Antimicrobial resistance remains a global high-priority public health challenge. With around 80% of all health service antibiotics prescribed in primary care and strong evidence that most patients will not benefit, there is an urgent need to identify the minority of patients who could benefit. Understanding the microbiological cause seems an obvious approach, but samples are rarely sent to laboratories from primary care because (a) results are too slow to inform management, (b) costs, and (c) the inappropriateness of taking invasive samples from sterile body sites. Thus, alternative methods are necessary if microbiology is to be used to inform the use of antibacterials and antivirals in primary care.