General principles and prescription recommendations for antibiotics in primary care

The purpose of this guidance leaflet is to avoid inappropriate prescription of antibiotics, a source of selection pressure, which leads to the emergence of bacterial resistance and to therapeutic impasses.

Each antibiotic prescription must be cautious, balancing :

• the short-term benefits for the patient, the priority if he/she is indeed suffering from a bacterial infection;

• the adverse effects for the patient on his/her commensal flora and for bacterial ecology through the selection of multiresistant bacteria.

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