EKU Podcast: Respiratory tract infections
From RCGP eLearning Podcast by RCGP eLearning Podcast
March 2, 2026 · 24 min
About this episode
Dr Thomas Round interviews Professor Paul Little about respiratory tract infections and their management in primary care.
Respiratory disease, including infections, affects one in five people in England and is the third biggest cause of death, with around 68,000 annual deaths. In this podcast Dr Thomas Round talks to Professor Paul Little, a GP and Professor of Primary Care Research at the University of Southampton about respiratory tract infections. They provide a discussion on the common presentations to primary care including symptoms and their duration, natural history, assessment (triage), red flags, treatment including best practice for the use of antibiotics (NNT and NNH, TARGET toolkit), point of care testing (CRP), the use of nasal sprays, encouraging at risk groups to receive vaccinations, continuation of hand washing, and the impact of stress on illness. They also offer top tips for everyday practice. Further reading : RCGP Essential Knowledge Update Hot Topic: Nasal sprays and behavioural interventions compared with usual care for acute respiratory illness in primary care RCGP TARGET antibiotics toolkit hub Little P, Vennik J, Rumsby K, et al. Nasal sprays and behavioural interventions compared with usual care for acute respiratory illness in primary care: a randomised, controlled…
People in this episode
Host: Dr Thomas Round
Guest: Professor Paul Little
Topics covered
- respiratory tract infections
- primary care
- antibiotic treatment
- vaccination
- hand washing
- stress and illness
Keywords
- respiratory disease
- infections
- antibiotics
- vaccinations
- point of care testing
- nasal sprays
- hand washing
- stress
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Southampton, RCGP
Books & works: Lancet Respir Med, BMJ Open
More episodes of RCGP eLearning Podcast
- EKU Podcast: Updates in detecting cancer in primary care · May 5, 2026 · 31 min
- EKU Podcast: Diagnosis and management of irritable bowel syndrome in primary care · February 2, 2026 · 20 min
- Challenging Consultations Podcast · December 22, 2025 · 24 min
- EKU Podcast: Eczema · December 9, 2025 · 20 min
- Net Zero Podcast · November 24, 2025 · 25 min
- EKU Podcast: Fatty liver disease · October 20, 2025 · 25 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the RCGP eLearning Podcast podcast page.