NEW DELHI: Is it important to complete a full course of an antibiotic ? Yes, according to conventional wisdom , which says stopping a course mid-way could lead to drug resistance . But several scientists have now challenged this claim.In many situations, stopping antibiotics sooner is a safe way to reduce antibiotic overuse, said a paper published in the British Medical Journal. But the scientists pointed out that studies to identify minimum effective treatment duration have simply not been performed for most conditions. When a patient takes antibiotics for any reason, species and strains sensitive to it are replaced by resistant species and strains ready to cause infection in the future.

Source: Times of India July 25, 2017 21:48 UTC