Do antibiotics and alcohol mix?

摘要

Genitourinary medicine clinics often prescribe antibiotics and, except for metronidazole, do not advise abstention from alcohol. However, patients often assume that they should avoid alcohol when taking any antibiotics, A Google search on "antibiotics and alcohol" finds many sites that advise abstention. But this belief has no foundation, and no contraindication is given in the British National Formulary.1 We wondered how prevalent this myth was and whether patients ever skipped antibiotics to drinkalcohol. A pilot survey showed that 76% of clinic staff believed the myth.