Belief That Completing Antibiotic Course Reduces Resistance Is “Fallacious”

​It is more important to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use than to complete the full course of antibiotics in an ineffective attempt to reduce resistance, write authors in an analysis published July 26 in the British Medical Journal. “The idea that stopping antibiotic treatment early encourages antibiotic resistance is not supported by evidence, while taking antibiotics for longer than necessary increases the risk of resistance," write authors. They further note that materials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Public Health England now recommend that antibiotics be taken “exactly as prescribed," rather than until the course is completed.