Background

primary care antibiotics are still too frequently pre-scribed for respiratory tract infections (RTI) [1,2]. Even among children, prescription of antibiotics by general practitioners (GPs) and pediatricians is extensive [3], al-though it is recognized that antibiotics are very unlikely to alter the course of RTI, such as throat infections, acute otitis media, maxillary sinusitis, and acute bron-chitis [4,5]. Consequently, current guidelines advise against the use of antibiotics during the initial treatment of uncomplicated RTI in otherwise healthy children and adults. These guidelines take potential side effects, medicalization for self-limiting conditions, increasing re-sistance to respiratory pathogens, and costs of unneces-sary antibiotic treatment into account [6-9]. Explanations for the inappropriate use of antibiotics i