Issue date: July 2008
NICE clinical guideline 69
Developed by the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE
Respiratory tract infections
– antibiotic prescribing
Prescribing of antibiotics for
self-limiting respiratory tract
infections in adults and children
in primary care
Prescribing of antibiotics for self-limiting respiratory tract infections in
adults and children in primary care
Ordering information
You can download the following documents from www.nice.org.uk/CG069:
• The full guideline (this document) – all the recommendations, details of how
they were developed, and reviews of the evidence they were based on
• A quick reference guide – a summary of the recommendations for
healthcare professionals.
• ‘Understanding NICE guidance’ – information for patients and carers.
For printed copies of the quick reference guide or ‘Understanding NICE
guidance’, phone NICE publications on 0845 003 7783 or email
publications@nice.org.uk and quote:
• N1623 (quick reference guide)
• N1624 (‘Understanding NICE guidance’).
NICE clinical guidelines are recommendations about the treatment and care of people with
specific diseases and conditions in the NHS in England and Wales
This guidance represents the view of the Institute, which was arrived at after careful
consideration of the evidence available. Healthcare professionals are expected to take it fully
into account when exercising their clinical judgement. However, the guidance does not
override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions
appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient
and/or guardian or carer and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs
they are considering.
Implementation of this guidance is the responsibility of local commissioners and/or providers.
Commissioners and providers are reminded that it is their responsibility to implement the
guidance, in their local context, in light of their duties