[Wonder Warthog]

"This is bold research, IMHO."

Smells like bullshit to me. I fail to see how a "too long" treatment can breed resistant bacteria, but a "too short" treatment period, with recurrence and retreatment certainly CAN cause such.

[Smokin' Joe]

I agree with your assessment, especially because I find the headline misleading. It is one thing to administer IV antibiotics for three days, another entirely if the antibiotics are administered orally.

The general rule of thumb is two to three days after symptoms are gone, so no bacteria remain to cause relapse and become resistant to the antibiotic. Most prescriptions are of sufficient duration to accomplish this.

It has been my understanding that the resistant strains were the product of unfinished treatment i.e., people who quit taking the medication as soon as they felt better, not the product of taking the antibiotics for too long.