Guidelines

The recent NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guideline, published on 26 January 2018, gives details on sore throat (acute) antimicrobial prescribing and there is a summary of the findings provided below.

You can read the full guideline here.

The guideline set out an antimicrobial prescribing strategy for acute sore throat. It aims to limit antibiotic use and reduce antimicrobial resistance. Acute sore throat is often caused by a virus, lasts for about a week, and most people get better without antibiotics. Withholding antibiotics rarely leads to complications.¹

Next steps

Where appropriate, prescribe a treatment, such as Difflam^™ Spray or Difflam^™ Oral Rinse, to manage the symptoms of acute sore throat, including pain, soreness, swelling and discomfort.

Concerned patients should be advised of evidence that antibiotics make little difference to how long symptoms last, and that most people feel better after 1 week, with or without antibiotics.¹

When a back-up antibiotic prescription is given, advice should be given about an antibiotic not being needed immediately, so the prescription can be used if symptoms do not start to improve within 3-5 days or if they worsen rapidly at any time.¹

Patients should seek medical help if their symptoms worsen rapidly or significantly, do not start to improve after 1 week, or they become systemically very unwell.¹

Reference

• NICE guideline [NG84] ‘Sore throat (acute): antimicrobial prescribing.’ Issued January 2018.
  Available at nice.org.uk/guidance/ng84. Accessed January 2024