Only one in three Maltese know that antibiotics are ineffective against viruses, a new EU-wide survey has found. 

A Eurobarometer survey has found that just 30% of Maltese know that antibiotics do not kill viruses. Some 58% gave the wrong answer and a further 12% said they were not sure.

Antibiotics cannot kill viruses and are used to treat bacterial illness. 

Read: Antibiotics use in Malta hospitals tops Europe list

Malta registered the third greatest drop in antibiotic use, 6% since 2016, the survey found. Despite this, Malta still registered the second highest use across all the member states, with 42% of respondents saying they had used the medication in the past 12 months.

Most common reason was a sore throat followed by the flu

Only in Italy, with 47%, did respondents score higher in antibiotic use.

The most common reason for Maltese to use antibiotics, the survey found, was a sore throat (22%) followed by the flu (14%).

More than nine in every 10 Maltese said they got their antibiotics directly from a medical practitioner.

Read: Antibiotics may increase chances of serious viral infection

Just over a quarter of Maltese, however, said they took antibiotics after being diagnosed with an illness in the past 12 months, while almost half said they had used them as soon as symptoms appeared. 

Some 40% said their antibiotics use had come after some form of medical test such as a blood test. 

It wasn’t just antibiotics efficacy against viruses that the Maltese were unclear on. More than one in three answered incorrectly when asked if they could use the medication to combat the common cold.

Meanwhile, 92% answered correctly when asked whether unnecessary antibiotic use lowered their effectiveness. And, three-quarters correctly stated that excessive use can have harmful side effects. 

While Maltese were relatively well informed of the negative repercussions of excessive use, they were the third least likely to have received informative material on this problem in recent months – just 18%.  

Read: Rule that patients must finish antibiotics course is wrong, study says

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