Lower Respiratory Tract Infections and Inappropriate Antibiotic Use Primum non nocere  The evidence is overwhelming! We must reduce the use of antibiotics in patients suspected of having virus "infections" such lower respiratory tract infections, acute bronchitis (another name for "cough" [1]) or sinusitis, if not mild otitis media or middle ear infection. In such situations, antibiotics have no value and they can be harmful, if not making things dangerously confusing for subsequent care.