Spreading the facts about viruses

Here at the Stonelaw Practice we gather information for Public Health Scotland for Community Acute Respiratory Infection (CARI).

The programme monitors a range of respiratory infections including: 

  • SARS-CoV-2
  • influenza types A and B
  • respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
  • seasonal coronavirus (non-SARS-CoV-2)
  • parainfluenza
  • human metapneumovirus
  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae
  • rhinovirus
  • adenovirus 

Around 180 GP practices are currently providing CARI surveillance data throughout the year.  

Current prevalence of respiratory infections for this week:

Many common infections of the nose, throat, sinuses, ears and chest are caused by germs called viruses. If you are normally well, your defence (immune) system is good at fighting off many types of viral infection. An Antibiotic medicine is not needed if a virus is causing an infection. This is because: Antibiotics do not kill viruses. Antibiotics only kill germs called bacteria.

Viral infections can vary a lot in how long they last, for instance: Respiratory infections can last a few days to two weeks.  You may experience a number of symptoms during this time:

  • A sudden high temperature
  • Tiredness and weakness
  • Headache
  • General aches and pains
  • A dry chesty cough
  • Sore throat
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Loss of appetite

We are finding that some bacteria can survive the effects of antibiotics, they become resistant and antibiotics no longer fight these bacteria.  The more we use antibiotics, the more likely it is that bacteria with develop resistance.  We can’t stop resistance developing but we can do a lot to slow it down and stop it spreading simply by not using antibiotics when we don’t need them.

Find out about antibodies

Sometimes the key to our recovery is self-care at home.  See the link below for self-help guides, which ask a range of questions similar to those that your GP or 111 advisor would ask to find out more about your condition:

Get self care support