remaining 273, 54 refused or provided incomplete infor- mation, leaving a sample of 219. The demographic charac- teristics of the sample are presented in Table 1. A large proportion of the sample (30.6%) believed that antimicrobial drugs should be available in the United States without a prescription. The behavior of acquiring antimicrobial drugs without a prescription while outside of the United States was quite common, with 45.2% indicat- ing that they had done this. A substantial number of persons had transported non- prescribed antimicrobial drugs into the United States (16.4%). The primary illnesses for which they bought the antimicrobial drugs were primarily for what we believe to have been viral respiratory infections. Among respondents who reported bringing back antimicrobial drugs that they purchased without seeing a doctor first, the reported con- ditions they were trying to treat included cough (88.9%), ear infections (88.9%), sore throat (69.4%), and colds (58.3%). When asked whether, on their next trip outside the United States, they would purchase antimicrobial drugs without seeing a doctor first and bring them back into the country, 23.7% of the sample reported “likely” or “very likely.” Among persons who transported nonprescribed antimicrobial drugs into the United States, the primary rea- son reported for doing so was because they had a mistrust of medicines in the United States and were more comfort- able with medicines from the home country (30.6%); other reasons included the following: to pay less for medicines bought in the home country than they would for those bought in the United States (19.4%), to avoid going to the doctor while in the United States (16.7%), to avoid the lan- guage barrier to care in the United States (13.9%), to pre- pare for future illness (13.9%), and to treat someone else’s medical problem (5.6%). Acquiring antimicrobial drugs not prescribed for the respondent within the United States was also a common behavior (19.2%). Among those who acquired antimicro- bial drugs in the United States without a prescription, 92.9% reported that they had acquired them without pre- scription at stores in the United States. As with transporta- tion of nonprescribed antimicrobial drugs into the United States, the primary illnesses for which they acquired the drugs without a prescription were what we believe to have been viral respiratory infections. Among respondents who reported acquiring antimicrobial drugs without a prescrip- tion, they reported attempting to treat “gripe” (flu) (97.6%), ear infections (97.6%), cough (83.3%), and sore throat (80.9%). Additionally, 97.6% reported acquiring antimicrobial drugs to treat diarrhea. Among persons who had acquired antimicrobial drugs in the United States with- out a prescription, 64.3% suggested that doing so was preferable to going to the doctor, while 26.2% reported that it was cheaper than paying for the doctor visit in addi- Nonprescribed Antimicrobial Drugs in Latino Community tion to paying for the prescription. Only 7.1% of this group reported acquiring antimicrobial drugs in this way because of language barriers. Tables 2 and 3 show the relationship between home country behaviors, health beliefs, access to care variables, and demographic characteristics to importing nonpre- scribed antimicrobial drugs and acquiring nonprescribed antimicrobial drugs in the United States. Persons who acquired nonprescribed antimicrobial drugs in the United States had beliefs and practices consistent with limited reg- ulations on antimicrobial drugs. The best predictors of acquiring antimicrobial drugs in the United States without a prescription are shown in Table 4. Only 4 variables were significantly related. The strongest predictors were health beliefs and practices con- sistent with limited regulations on antimicrobial drugs. Discussion This study confirms the existence of a large reservoir of nonprescription antimicrobial drugs in the United States that are used for likely inappropriate self-medication in the Latino community. Besides being imported, many of these nonprescription drugs are acquired from small stores, showing an organized system of nonprescription antimi- crobial drug distribution within the Latino community in the United States Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 11, No. 6, June 2005 885