A recent article in the British Medical Journal (Everitt et al., 2006), looking at various options for the management of uncomplicated acute infective conjunctivitis (AIC), suggested that a delayed prescription of anti-infective eye preparations was the most appropriate choice. Up to this point, I routinely prescribed chloramphenicol or fusidic acid for all patients presenting with AIC and the partners at my practice agreed their management approach was the same as mine. A literature search of Medline, Cochrane Library and BMJ.com, using search strings ‘infective conjunctivitis’, ‘delayed prescribing’ and ‘conjunctivitis-delayed prescribing’ revealed further evidence for withholding treatment.
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