Antibiotics do not reduce risk of dying in adults hospitalised with common respiratory infections, suggests study

Most patients admitted to hospital with acute viral respiratory infections are given antibiotics. Now new research to be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark (15-18 April), suggests that prescribing antibiotic therapy to adults hospitalized with common viral respiratory infections such as influenza is unlikely to save lives.