This study aims to find out which
people with sore throat get better without problems, the
few people who get worse or don’t get better quickly,
and those who will benefit from antibiotics. In
particular we want to find out whether throat swabs –
which are used to detect bacterial infections - are a
good way of targeting antibiotics. Finding the answer
to this important question will be the first step to
better targeting antibiotics in the future to those who
will benefit, help avoid side effects when antibiotics
are not needed, and to reduce ‘resistance’ resulting
from overuse of antibiotics.
Up to 2100 patients presenting to their GP or practice
nurse with a sore throat will have key clinical
information collected by the GP or nurse – mainly by
asking questions about how bad patient’s symptoms are,
but also from a quick examination of the throat,
including throat swabs and measuring the temperature.
All patients will then have their notes assessed to see
whether they needed to come back to the GP/nurse or
whether any complications occurred.
All patients are asked to complete a diary of their
symptoms. The analysis will then assess whether the
results of the throat swab are helpful in identifying
those patients who are likely to benefit from
antibiotics.
This information in turn can then be used to help
doctors and nurse to better manage patients presenting
with sore throat in future. |
