4 Rapid infection diagnostics

Prescribing unnecessary antibiotics increases the chances of antibiotic resistance developing. This is often because broad-spectrum antibiotics are prescribed before the infection is diagnosed. Reducing the amount of time taken to diagnose an infection will help to reduce the unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics (Figure 9). This is the goal of rapid diagnostics.

Figure 9 Unnecessary prescription of antibiotics to treat respiratory problems in the USA (O’Neill, 2016).

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This figure consists of an infographic from the O’Neill Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (2016). It illustrates how rapid diagnostics would reduce unnecessary prescription. The following data is presented; Out of 40 million people who get given antibiotics for respiratory issues, annually in the US: 27 million get antibiotics unnecessarily, 13 million who need antibiotics get them.

Figure 9 Unnecessary prescription of antibiotics to treat respiratory problems in the USA (O’Neill, 2016).