Hello Everyone,<BR>I am fortunate to be going to Florence on Friday but equally unlucky to have two people in my house with strep throat. I don't have any symptoms yet but if I am unable to get antiobiotics from my doctor, can I get them in Italy, without a script in a pharmacy, if I was to come down with it while there? TIA

Some antibiotics are for sale even without a doctor's prescription. If you have your doctor's prescription, make sure he uses not the commercial name (which can change from country to country) but the principle's name, which can be recognized by an Italian doctor of &quot;farmacista&quot;. In case there is still trouble, you may have to have a visit with an Italian doctor, places like Florence have usually doctors that are paid by the local Asl (local &quot;precinct&quot; of the national health service) to cure minor illnesses of travellers and tourists, you can have further informations about this from a local pharmacy. This doctor will probably visit you in order to make sure about your illess and prescribe you antibiotics.

you'd be crazy to get antibiotics without a prescription, and I doubt you'd be able to anyway. Just see a doctor in Italy if you get the symptoms.

I'm sure your Dr. will give you a perscription that you can fill before you leave. If it's your kids with the strep, I bet even the pediatrician would do you the favor.

In Italy medicines can be sold only by doctors in pharmacy who, despite not being allowed, trained and able to diagnose, can &quot;locate&quot; the right medicine. In any case, some &quot;large spectrum&quot; antibiotics are for sale without prescription (white paper prescriptions, which means prescriptions written on a doctor's &quot;carta intestata&quot;, letterhead???, in Italy have the same value as none).

&quot;doctors in pharmacy&quot; means people with a phd in pharmacy, it is an acrobatic translation from Italian.

Dear JLwright<BR><BR> I make it a &quot;habit&quot; of always bringing antibiotics whenever I go out-of-town. My Dr just gives me a prescription before I leave;that way there are no trip interruptions whatsoever which makes my life a whole lot easier.

On my last trip, I developed a nasty sinus infection 4 days into the trip. Walked into the emergency room at the Orvieto hospital. Saw a Dr. with NO WAIT and NO CHARGE! Took my prescription to the Farmacia &amp; got my antibiotics at half of what they cost in the US. They even wrapped it up in beautiful antique print pharmacist paper which I included in my photo album.<BR><BR>I liked the Italian system!

Most doctors are willing to give a prescription for a 'mild' antibiotic before someone leaves for 'third world conditions' like Europe. <BR><BR>The less furry one has had these the last three trips even though two were to the greatly backward nation of England.

Sorry, the other 'greatly backward nation' was France. <BR>In England she could not have had the 'language excuse'.

Dayle: your no wait was enterely oiut of luck, since yesterday I had to take my grandfather to an Er for something a bit more substantial than a sinus infection, and still we had to wait for a hour before a doctor was there to assist him (a car accident happened just before we arrived, and triage works in Italy too!). Yet, in any Italian Er you are granted basic care in case of emergency for free and some medicines are sold with only a minimum tax charge (1-3 euro, depending on the region of Italy you are in). Non emergency visits (white codes) to any ER will cost you some 60 euro or more.

For AliceTwain,<BR>can you please tell me the name for the non prescription antibiotics sold in the pharmacy? My doctor dont want to prescribe anything, but unfortunately everytime I go to Europe I always have sinus problem......Grazie,<BR>kismet

Sorry, I ma not able to fulfil your request. Yet, most chemists in Italy can speak some English and will be able to suggest you the right product. Also, commercial names of medicines are often different in Italy and in the Usa. Trust the chemists, in italy they are avery respected category, and rigtfully so ^_^<BR>By the way, in this stretch of familiar bad health I have dealt with four differnt chemists, one from Iran, one from Egypt, one from Cameroun and one Italian: it seems like our unversities are particularly good when it comes to becoming a chemist, so that foreign students flock to Italy (not that I remember, I met also a chemist in Greece who had studied in Italy!). At least I think so ^_^

My wife had an infection when we were in Italy in '99. We were able to get an antibiotic in a pharmacy in Rome without a prescription. No problem. Seemed like the pharmacy was right on the Corso.