ArticleBMC infectious diseases2021
Incidence, healthcare-seeking behaviours, antibiotic use and natural history of common infection syndromes in England: results from the Bug Watch community cohort study.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Health-Related Quality-of-Life Measurement in Patients With Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Pooled it
- Genetic and Epigenetic Intersections in COVID-19-Associated Cardiovascular Disease: Emerging Insights and Future Directions.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Article
- Innovative Biosensor Technologies in the Diagnosis of Urinary Tract Infections: A Comprehensive Literature Review.Indian journal of microbiology · 2024Review
- Unravelling patient pathways in the context of antibacterial resistance in East Africa.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- How symptoms of simple acute infections affect the SSS-8 and SSD-12 as screening instruments for somatic symptom disorder in the primary care setting.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Co-Developing an Antibiotic Stewardship Tool for Dentistry: Shared Decision-Making for Adults with Toothache or Infection.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Empowering Patients to Self-Manage Common Infections: Qualitative Study Informing the Development of an Evidence-Based Patient Information Leaflet.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Impact of baseline cases of cough and fever on UK COVID-19 diagnostic testing rates: estimates from the Bug Watch community cohort study.Wellcome open research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBetter information on the typical course and management of acute common infections in the community could inform antibiotic stewardship campaigns. We aimed to investigate the incidence, management, and natural history of a range of infection syndromes (respiratory, gastrointestinal, mouth/dental, skin/soft tissue, urinary tract, and eye).
methodsBug Watch was an online prospective community cohort study of the general population in England (2018-2019) with weekly symptom reporting for 6 months. We combined symptom reports into infection syndromes, calculated incidence rates, described the proportion leading to healthcare-seeking behaviours and antibiotic use, and estimated duration and severity.
resultsThe cohort comprised 873 individuals with 23,111 person-weeks follow-up. The mean age was 54 years and 528 (60%) were female. We identified 1422 infection syndromes, comprising 40,590 symptom reports. The incidence of respiratory tract infection syndromes was two per person year; for all other categories it was less than one. 194/1422 (14%) syndromes led to GP (or dentist) consultation and 136/1422 (10%) to antibiotic use. Symptoms usually resolved within a week and the third day was the most severe.
conclusionsMost people reported managing their symptoms without medical consultation. Interventions encouraging safe self-management across a range of acute infection syndromes could decrease pressure on primary healthcare services and support targets for reducing antibiotic prescribing.
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