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Antibiotic Policies: Fighting Resistance pp 17–27Cite as

The Process of Antibiotic Prescribing: Can It Be Changed?

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Abstract

Antibiotics are among the most successful drugs in medicine. Their power in therapy as well as in prophylaxis was so convincing that for most of the older antibiotics, controlled clinical trials were never performed. The advent of antibiotics dramatically altered the prognosis of bacterial infections, such as streptococcal endocarditis, purulent meningitis, and sepsis caused by staphylococci and Gram-negative bacteria. From a historical point of view the ability to prescribe antibiotics changed the therapeutic power of physicians in an unprecedented fashion. Although antibiotics have lost quite a bit of their glamour due to increasing antimicrobial resistance of microorganisms, this sense of power probably still underlies antibiotic prescribing.

The desire to digest medicines is one of the principal features which distinguish men from animals.

—Sir William Osler

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Internal Medicine & Nijmegen University Centre for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jos W.M. van der Meer

  2. Department of General Practice, Centre for Quality of Care Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Richard P.T.M. Grol

Authors
  1. Jos W.M. van der Meer
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  2. Richard P.T.M. Grol
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, Australia

    Ian M Gould

  2. Department of General Internal Medicine & Nijmegen University Centre for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University, Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jos WM van der Meer

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van der Meer, J.W., Grol, R.P. (2008). The Process of Antibiotic Prescribing: Can It Be Changed?. In: Gould, I.M., van der Meer, J.W. (eds) Antibiotic Policies: Fighting Resistance. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-70841-6_2

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