In an effort to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for England and Whales) just released the most updated guidelines for “Respiratory tract infections – antibiotic prescribing Prescribing of antibiotics for self-limiting respiratory tract infections in adults and children in primary care.” The most recent issue of BMJ has published a summary of the guidelines (BMJ 2008;337:a437). The guidelines are available for free online for health practitioners and there is also a consumer health booklet to help patients understand the new guidelines. The consumer health booklet does a great job explaining what respiratory tract infections are, how they are usually viruses which cannot be cleared up by antibiotics, the normal stages, and length of time for respiratory tract infections.