| If you take an antibiotic every time you or your child has a fever, think twice. Colds and most sore throats, along with influenza and other viral infections, do not react to the bacteria-killing properties of these powerful medications. Instead, the illness needs to run its course, because the immune system does its healing work.
Then when shoud antibiotics be taken? Below is a primer on these wonder medicines and the bacterial infections which they target.
Bacterial vs. Viral
Most diseases attack our bodies via microbes. Viruses and bacteria are different in size, structure and method of multiplication, not to mention the ways in which they are treated. While doctors have secure and effective vaccines to protect us from many viruses, they do not have secure and efficacious medications to cure or treat most of them.
Penicillin made it possible
Penicillin was first heard of in 1944. Now, antibiotics are among the most usually prescribed drugs worldwide, either combating microbes cleary and completely or preventing them from multiplying.
Downside of a very upside medicine
Antibiotics can lead to more harm than good, when not used in the right way. General use and misuse in the sick over time have threatened antibiotics' capability to kill off bacteria. These days, almost all bacteria are antibitocs-resistant, so that more recently developed antibiotics are sometimes needed to stop infections once easily cured. Antibiotics can also bright about complications, for instance vaginal yeast infections and diarrhoea.
So the next time you want to take an antibiotic to fend off a cold, enquire how to deal with the symptoms instead. Do not be surprised if your doctor has suggested 'watchful waiting' to see if symptoms eventually merit a prescription.
If taking antibiotics, keep to instructions. Your dose has been calculated to kill off microbes throughout the course of the sickness. So, if you do not finish, you risk leaving enough microbes in your body to restart the infection - even if you are feeling good. The remained treatment will not be enough to combat the germs the next time, and it may even make them resistant.
The best way to decrease the risk of antibiotic resistance is to avoid catching a cold in the first place.
Keeping your hands clean is the most efficacious preventive measure you can take to avoid contracting diseases. So scrub with warm, soapy water for at least 15 seconds, afterwards rinse thoroughly. This is your essential part for prevention. |
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