A UC Davis study of 9 emergency departments and urgent care centers in California and Colorado found educating physicians and patients about safe antibiotic use can cut overuse by 30%. The study, funded under a contract from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It compared two approaches designed to help physicians make better antibiotic-prescribing decisions for viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs) without limiting the choices available. Viral ARIs are common conditions that range from earache and laryngitis to influenza and bronchitis.

Of the 10 million prescriptions for antibiotics that emergency department physicians in the U.S. write each year, half are prescribed for known viral infections such as acute bronchitis and upper respiratory infections, which do not respond to antibiotics.

For the study, the researchers tracked 44,820 viral ARI visits among 292 providers at five adult and pediatric emergency departments and four urgent care centers.

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