Rapid virus test fails to cut GP antibiotic prescribing

Getty/Thomas Faull

By Olivia Bowthorpe

A rapid test to help GPs identify viruses and reduce antibiotic over-prescribing did not cut overall antibiotic use in patients with respiratory infections, a UK trial has found.

The findings challenge hopes that microbiological point-of-care testing alone could be a solution to tackling antimicrobial resistance, considered one of the top ten threats to global public health.