Improving the quality of antibiotic prescription patterns in general practice. The role of educational intervention.
To assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing by Victorian general practitioners, and the effectiveness of educational intervention techniques in improving prescribing. A randomised, controlled, parallel group trial. In rural and metropolitan Victoria, 182 general practitioners (78 control, 104 intervention) began and 103 (41 control, 62 intervention) completed the study. Participants recorded their antibiotic prescribing for tonsillitis. The intervention group received an educational mailing campaign. A project pharmacist visited each doctor to discuss campaign messages. The percentages of prescriptions of antibiotics for tonsillitis complying with those recommended in Antibiotic guidelines. In the intervention group, prescriptions consistent with recommendations in the guidelines increased from 60.5% before the campaign to 87.7% afterwards. Improvement also occurred in theto the immune system's ability to fight off viral infections. The protein was found in an unexpected location within the cell - the mitochondria - causing researchers to rethink how the human immune system works.

Working with cultured cells, researchers found that the protein, made by a gene they discovered and named MAVS, is located in an unexpected place within the cell - in the membrane of an organelle called the mitochondrion, which until now was best known for generating energy required for daily life.

"This is the first mitochondrial protein known to be involved in immune defense against any microbial infection," said Dr. Zhijian "James" Chen, associate professor of molecular biology at UT Southwestern and the study's senior author. "This discovery puts mitochondria on the map in terms of