Honey and over-the-counter medicines should be the first line of treatment for most people with coughs, new guidelines recommend. Antibiotics should rarely be prescribed by doctors for coughs because in most cases they do little to improve symptoms, health officials say.

Most of the time a cough will improve on its own within two to three weeks.

The new recommendations for doctors are intended to help tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance. Overusing antibiotics is making infections harder to treat, by creating drug-resistant superbugs.

A hot drink with honey – and often with lemon and ginger as well – is a well-known home remedy for coughs and a sore throat. Cough medicines containing pelargonium, guaifenesin or dextromethorphan might also be beneficial, they say.

Patients are being advised to use these treatments and wait for symptoms to improve on their own, before going to a General Practitioner.

Most coughs are caused by viruses, which cannot be treated by antibiotics and will clear up on their own. Yet despite this, research has previously found that 48% of UK GP practices have prescribed antibiotics for a cough or bronchitis.

Honey is not recommended for children under the age of one because it occasionally contains bacteria that can cause infant botulism.