Volume 8, Number 12—December 2002
Perspective
Outpatient Antibiotic Use and Prevalence of Antibiotic-Resistant Pneumococci in France and Germany: A Sociocultural Perspective
Stephan Harbarth*
, Werner Albrich†, and Christian Brun-Buisson‡
, Werner Albrich†, and Christian Brun-Buisson‡Table
Comparison of patterns of antibiotic prescribing and diagnostic tests for respiratory tract infections, France and Germanya
| Variables | France | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Average no. office visits for acute tonsillopharyngitis per 1,000 population | 136 | 51 |
| Average no. antibiotic prescriptions per 100 office visits for acute tonsillopharyngitis | 94.6 | 69.6 |
| Average no. office visits for common cold per 1,000 population | 253 | 19 |
| Average no. antibiotic prescriptions per 100 office visits for common cold | 48.7 | 7.7 |
| % of patients not receiving antibiotics at first office visit for | ||
| Suspected community-acquired pneumonia | 8 | 23 |
| Acute bronchitis | 7 | 31 |
| Exacerbation of chronic bronchitis | 5 | 26 |
| Viral lower respiratory tract infection | 20 | 41 |
| % of cases of suspected lower respiratory tract infection with diagnostic tests performed | ||
| Chest radiograph | 18 | 27 |
| Peripheral blood leukocyte count | 14 | 27 |
| Microbiologic sputum examination | 3 | 12 |
