A Million more Antibiotic Prescriptions than expected in December

Tales from the Front Line

“How's it going,” I say.

“It’s manic, there are hundreds on the phone, and every child with a sore throat is coming into base,” she replied. “And I’ve used more antibiotics this month than the whole year.”

Sore throat is a common primary care presentation and can occasionally lead to scarlet fever, which usually affects young children - but not always. It presents with a sore throat, high fever and a skin rash; it can usually be treated with an antibiotic (penicillin) targeted to the causative pathogen - strep A. However, in rare cases, scarlet fever can lead to an invasive infection which can cause life-threatening complications. 

But in the Autumn of last year, cases rocketed: a substantial scarlet fever outbreak occurred across Europe from September 2022 onwards - up to 30 UK children died by the end of the year. 

You'd be hard-pushed to have missed the outbreak as its reporting was in every news outlet. As the death toll rose - parental anxiety was heightened - the usual approach of r…