For many doctors, a question often faced in the emergency room or the clinic, is to prescribe antibiotics or not. Reducing the use of antibiotics has become a matter of concern for both patients and physicians over recent years.
Experts at the Mayo Clinic stated the antibiotic over-use situation in a nutshell for us, “There is also a problem with antibiotic medications. Drugs that used to be standard treatments for bacterial infections are now less effective or don’t work at all. When an antibiotic drug no longer has an effect on a certain strain of bacteria, those bacteria are said to be antibiotic resistant.”
More to the point, they added, “The overuse and misuse of antibiotics are key factors contributing to antibiotic resistance. The general public, doctors and hospitals all play a role in ensuring proper use of the drugs and minimizing the development of antibiotic resistance.” To find out more about this growing concern, check out this knowledgeable online resource.
Now, let’s look at three different patients who could resort to the Emergency Room of any hospital on any given night.
Lilly S., age 11, arrives at the Emergency Room with a raspy, deep cough and wheezing.
Martin J., age 56, arrives twenty minutes later with a raspy, deep cough and wheezing.
Sarah C., age 42, also presents with the same, obvious respiratory symptoms.
In each of these three cases, the patient could have a viral, bacterial or non-infectious disease. Doctors must decide if they should prescribe an anti-biotic in each instance. 
Scientists believe they might have developed a biomarker blood test that could help them.
21st Century Dilemma: To Prescribe Antibiotics Or Not?
Today, the Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists bring you information about a new blood biomarker test being given a special trial. It is designed to help diagnose the cause of lung infections: the Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial.
David T. Huang, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of critical care medicine and emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recently stated, “Doctors prescribe antibiotics more often than they would like to because it can be really hard to tell if a patient has a lung infection or a non-infectious disease.”
1. it’s a fact that “viral infections look very much like bacterial infections.” You should also know that X-rays do not differentiate between the two.
2. The Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial will examine whether the biomarker can help doctors make more informed decisions about using antibiotics.
They have launched the PROact trials in the hope that the new blood biomarker can be used in clinics and emergency rooms. PROact is not a drug in a trial. It is a special test that makes it possible to discover the cause of lung infections in patients who arrive in hospital emergency rooms.
It will involve over 1,500 non-critical lung infected patients who will consent to the participation. From that group, patients will then be randomly selected, according to many drug trial rules, to receive either standard care or the blood test. The blood test will help the doctor decide the effective value of prescribing antibiotics.
3. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, has funded the trial.
The best possible outcome could be that the use of this test will result in a trend to reduce the use of antibiotics for lung infections. This is in an effort to make certain the antibiotics will remain effective at later times when the patient is in critical need of them .
4. The results of the test will be available to the physician within one hour. If the patient is admitted to the hospital, a follow-up test on procalcitonin levels is administered. In cases where the patient is allowed to go home from the emergency room, a follow-up measurement of procalcitonin is done within 30 days.
Dr. Huang added, “The final decision to use or not use antibiotics is up to the doctor, who also will be taking into account the patient’s medical history and other factors.”
He also added a serious goal for the future, “My hope is that we’ll find that patient outcomes are as just as good, while the antibiotic use declines.”
It’s good for patients to know that medical tests, like pharmaceutical products, are the rigorously tested, evaluated and validated in studies like this one before they are approved for general use.
Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialist (FLASS) also believe it is also good to realize that patients concerns for the over-use of antibiotics are being addressed by scientists who not only care about the well-being of individual patients, but also about a healthy future for future generations of humanity.