Antibiotics

Antibiotics stop bacteria growing or kill them. They are used to treat bacterial infections. Systemic antibiotics should only be used when necessary in order to prevent the development of resistant pathogens. The Swiss Atlas of Healthcare contains analyses on the use of antibiotics overall in outpatient settings, and separate analyses by age group. Only antibiotics for systemic use (e.g. tablets) are taken into account, but not topical applications (e.g. ointments).