Public Release: 

Patient expectations of acute bronchitis not consistent with the best evidence

University of Georgia





Ebell first realized disconnect in expectations and realities while working as a family practice physician. "There is a mismatch in what people believe and reality," Ebell said. "If someone gets acute bronchitis and isn't better after four to five days, they may think they need to see a doctor and get an antibiotic. And when the first one doesn't work, they come back four or five days later for another."


"We know from clinical trials there is very little, if any, benefit to antibiotic treatments for acute cough because most of these illnesses are caused by a virus," he said. "Among patients who receive antibiotics, about half of those will be very broad spectrum antibiotics that have the potential to increase antibiotic resistance. These are antibiotics that would be nice to still have around when we actually need them, like for someone who may have pneumonia."

Over-prescription of antibiotics leads to bacterial resistance and can severely limit the types of medicines physicians can prescribe when there's a serious health threat.

"We are already seeing types of infections that we don't have antibiotics for anymore," he said. "It is a real concern among public health officials that we will get to a point where we don't have antibiotics that work."


"We don't have an infinite amount of money in this country," he said. "We spend twice as much money per person as any other country on healthcare, but we don't achieve better outcomes overall. In fact, many of our outcomes are worse than other nations in Western Europe. We are spending a lot of money on things that don't make us healthier, and it is important to figure out what does work and what doesn't work."




Writer: April Sorrow, 706/542-7991,

Contact: Mark Ebell, 706/542-1585,
