PATIENTS do not have to finish courses of antibiotics if they feel better but that is not the same as wanting to get hammered, doctors have warned.
Patients have urged the UK to distinguish between an infection being cleared from their bodies, meaning a course of antibiotics can safely be abandoned, and it being Friday night.
Dr Helen Archer said: “In clinics trials, more than 80 per cent of patients reported being over an infection within 30-40 minutes of their mate Sam texting them from the pub.
“It’s a variation on the placebo effect, with symptoms genuinely disappearing on the prospect of a few vodkas in front of a Jason Statham film, but the underlying infection still remaining.
“Yes, it can cause long-term risks to continue taking antibiotics after an infection is cleared, but there is a much higher risk of a course being stopped halfway through because it’s a sunny evening and there is prosecco in the vicinity.”
Bill McKay, from Dundee, said: “They use alcohol to clean wounds, so stands to reason it works internally as well.”
