Impact of the Use of CRP on the Prescription of Antibiotics in General Practitioners

Respiratory infections, including episodes of coughing with fever, are the main cause of outpatient antibiotic prescription, while a minority of them are linked to bacterial infections requiring antibiotic. These prescriptions are often performed by general practitioners. These unnecessary antibiotic contribute to increased bacterial resistance, side effects and unnecessary costs. Campaigns for the correct prescription of antibiotics have had a real but partial or transient success. C-reactive protein micro-method (POCT-CRP) could help to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections and thus contribute to the proper use of antibiotics. The decrease in prescription of antibiotics is likely to have an even stronger positive impact in countries like France, where prescription is high. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of POCT-CRP in the general practitioner's office in case of suspected respiratory infection.