• WHEN I went to my GP with a terrible chest cold recently, I asked for some antibiotics to get rid of my painful cough. She reacted as if I has asked for some cocaine.

Then she explained how overuse of antibiotics rendered them less effective because the bugs built up a resistance. So she listened to my chest, while I breathed and coughed to order.

Then she said antibiotics wouldn’t do me any good because by listening to my chest she could tell that I had a viral infection. Antibiotics can only tackle bacterial infections. I had a virus, she said.

“What virus?” I asked. “Oh, she said, “there are loads of viruses going around at the moment.” She couldn’t identify it by listening to my chest.

If this process occurs in most GP practices, how do we know what viruses are going around at any one time? Just saying . . .

W BROWN,
N19