As time pressures increase for PCPs, expect more of this to continue. It takes less time to give an antibiotic than it is to counsel and test:
About 14 percent of U.S. children visit a health professional at least once a year for serious sore throat, and over two-thirds of these are prescribed antibiotics, according to a survey by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
But the federal survey also found that roughly 1 of every 5 children prescribed an antibiotic did not receive a throat swab to confirm a bacterial infection. Sore throats caused by bacteria can be cured by antibiotics; those caused by viruses cannot.
