Antibiotic overuse and allergy-related diseases: an epidemiological cross-sectional study in the grasslands of Northern China.

Background: Several studies have shown that the use of antibiotics early in life significantly increases the risk of asthma in children. It is unclear whether antibiotics are more commonly used in patients with allergy-related diseases.

Methods: A multistage, clustered and random sampling with a field-interviewer-administrated survey study was performed to investigate if there was multiple use of antibiotics (MUA) in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), conjunctivitis, chronic urticaria (CU), and asthma in the grasslands of northern China.

Efficacy and side effects of antibiotics in the treatment of acute rhinosinusitis: a systematic review.

Background: Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) is one of the most common diagnoses for which an antibiotic is prescribed. Although the usage of antibiotics in the treatment of mild, moderate or uncomplicated ARS is not recommended by most international guidelines, overuse of antibiotics is still an alarming problem among patients and healthcare practitioners. We thus sought to review the evidence available through a systematic review of the existing literature on antibiotic usage in ARS.