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I once accompanied a friend with a bad cold to a hospital in Shanghai. They ran a blood test, and the doctor announced that she had a viral infection. He then h

I once accompanied a friend with a bad cold to a hospital in Shanghai. They ran a blood test, and the doctor announced that she had a viral infection. He then handed her a (fairly expensive) prescription for antibiotics. Now, as anyone who's studied biology (or even Googled 'antibiotics') knows, antibiotics have absolutely no effect whatsoever on viruses. I called the doctor out on it, and he scowled at me and said something like "foreigners do things differently". Apparently antibiotics account for around 24% of total hospital revenue in China[1], which may explain it somewhat. 1.http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2103733,00.html http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2103733,00...

ch4s3 12y ago
Did you post a very similar comment about that anecdote on a story about antibiotic use in China a few months ago? I feel like I've read that quote before. Anyway, crazy stuff.
- logicchains 12y ago
  Haha, indeed I did. Although I'm sure many others who've lived in China have had similar experiences. About 75% of patients with seasonal influenza are prescribed antibiotics[1], so I think being prescribed antibiotics for viruses is pretty common. 1. http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1083 http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1083
cageface 12y ago
It's the same in Vietnam. Everyone I've talked to here that's been to the doctor has been prescribed antibiotics, no matter what the problem is. What's worse, they often only give patients a few pills and not a complete regimen. I can only imagine how much this sort of thing contributes to antibiotic resistance.
shabda 12y ago
"Bacterial superinfection in viral respiratory disease is a clinically well documented phenomenon." http://www.hksid.org/pdf/bult200305.pdf http://www.hksid.org/pdf/bult200305.pdf "Respiratory viral infections may facilitate secondary bacterial infections" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166819 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166819 The doctor might have had some information about his patient, which you don't?
- vinceguidry 12y ago
  If he did, surely he would have told them about it, rather than just say, "foreigners do it differently".
  - shabda 12y ago
    That's not always the case. If an amateur with no knowledge of my field questions 20 years of my professional experience, I am highly likely to say FU.
  - kelukelugames 12y ago
    My doctor friends get really annoyed when I read something on WebMD and argue with them. 8 years of schooling makes them an expert and I'm just being a jackass for thinking googling grants me an MD.
- logicchains 12y ago
  If it were somewhere else I'd have considered that, but considering how widely recognised the problem of antibiotics overuse in China is I considered that more likely. "At medical institutions about 70 percent of hospitalized patients have antibiotics prescribed by doctors but nearly 80 percent of those prescriptions are unnecessary, Yang (director of the behavioral medicine branch of the Chinese Medical Association) noted."[1] "Each year on the mainland about 200,000 people die from adverse drug events and 40 percent of the deaths are related to the abuse of antibiotics, Yang told the Beijing-based Health News." 1. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-01/05/content_11798779.htm http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-01/05/content_11798...
thaumasiotes 12y ago
Foreigners do do things differently; for example, it's widely believed in China that getting IVs of saline solution is a healthful practice. I assume they're not particularly expensive, because people go to the hospital for IV drips whether they're sick or not. It's also very commonly believed that giving children cold beverages will damage their health. Doctors can be just as superstitious as their background population.

ch4s3 12y ago

Did you post a very similar comment about that anecdote on a story about antibiotic use in China a few months ago? I feel like I've read that quote before. Anyway, crazy stuff.

logicchains 12y ago
Haha, indeed I did. Although I'm sure many others who've lived in China have had similar experiences. About 75% of patients with seasonal influenza are prescribed antibiotics[1], so I think being prescribed antibiotics for viruses is pretty common. 1. http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1083 http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1083

cageface 12y ago

It's the same in Vietnam. Everyone I've talked to here that's been to the doctor has been prescribed antibiotics, no matter what the problem is. What's worse, they often only give patients a few pills and not a complete regimen. I can only imagine how much this sort of thing contributes to antibiotic resistance.

shabda 12y ago

"Bacterial superinfection in viral respiratory disease is a clinically well documented phenomenon." http://www.hksid.org/pdf/bult200305.pdf http://www.hksid.org/pdf/bult200305.pdf "Respiratory viral infections may facilitate secondary bacterial infections" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166819 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166819 The doctor might have had some information about his patient, which you don't?

vinceguidry 12y ago
If he did, surely he would have told them about it, rather than just say, "foreigners do it differently".
- shabda 12y ago
  That's not always the case. If an amateur with no knowledge of my field questions 20 years of my professional experience, I am highly likely to say FU.
- kelukelugames 12y ago
  My doctor friends get really annoyed when I read something on WebMD and argue with them. 8 years of schooling makes them an expert and I'm just being a jackass for thinking googling grants me an MD.
logicchains 12y ago
If it were somewhere else I'd have considered that, but considering how widely recognised the problem of antibiotics overuse in China is I considered that more likely. "At medical institutions about 70 percent of hospitalized patients have antibiotics prescribed by doctors but nearly 80 percent of those prescriptions are unnecessary, Yang (director of the behavioral medicine branch of the Chinese Medical Association) noted."[1] "Each year on the mainland about 200,000 people die from adverse drug events and 40 percent of the deaths are related to the abuse of antibiotics, Yang told the Beijing-based Health News." 1. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-01/05/content_11798779.htm http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-01/05/content_11798...

thaumasiotes 12y ago

Foreigners do do things differently; for example, it's widely believed in China that getting IVs of saline solution is a healthful practice. I assume they're not particularly expensive, because people go to the hospital for IV drips whether they're sick or not. It's also very commonly believed that giving children cold beverages will damage their health. Doctors can be just as superstitious as their background population.