article_snippet: A device that can help GPs tell the difference between bacterial and viral infections has been welcomed by health chiefs as a way to halt the over-use of antibiotic medication.
article_snippet: The hand-held device, the size of a rattle, contains a sensor that can analyse a nasal swab taken in the doctor
article_snippet: It gives a positive reading within seconds if the patient has Influenza A or B – common flu strains in recent epidemics – or RSV, the Respiratory Syncytial Virus that is a major cause of coughs and chest infections.
article_snippet: These do not respond to antibiotics, which target only bacterial infections.
article_snippet: However, the fact that so few new antibiotics have been developed is also an issue, as is the willingness of patients to accept that lots of bacterial infections as well as viruses will settle down on lots of bacterial infections as well as viruses own in a few days.