| If you think you need an antibiotic every time you or your child has a fever, think twice. Most sore throats and colds, along with influenza and other viral infections, do not react to the bacteria-killing properties of these potent medications. Instead, the sickness should run its course, because the immune system does its healing work.
Then when should you use antibiotics? Here is some useful information on these wonder drugs and the bacterial infections which they can combat.
Viruses vs. Bacteria
Most diseases infect our bodies via germs. Bacteria and viruses are different in size, structure and method of multiplication, not to mention the ways in which they are treated. While doctors have secure and efficacious vaccines to immunize against many viruses, they do not have safe and effective medicines to cure or treat most of them.
Penicillin made it possible
Penicillin was discovered in 1944. Nowadays, antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide, either fighting off germs outright or stopping their multiplication.
Drawback of a very upside drug
Antibiotics can cause many more health problems, if they are not used in the correct way. Widespread use and misuse in people over time have doubted antibiotics' capability to combat microbes. At present, nearly all bacteria are resistant to these medications, so that more lately introduced antibiotics are sometimes required to combat infections that were once easily treatable. Antibiotics can also cause complications, for instance diarrhoea and vaginal yeast infections.
So the next time you want an antibiotic to stave off a common cold, enquire how to deal with the symptoms instead. Do not be surprised if your GP suggests 'watchful waiting' to see if symptoms eventually merit a prescription.
When taking antibiotics, keep to instructions. Your dosage has been calculated to kill bacteria within the course of the sickness. So, if you do not finish, you risk leaving enough microorganisms in your body to re-start the infection - even after you are feeling good. The remained medication will be insufficient to kill the microbes the next time, and it may even make them resistant to antibiotics.
The easiest method to diminish the risk of antibiotic resistance is, first and foremost, to avoid catching a cold.
Keeping your hands clean is the most efficacious preventive measure you can take to avoid transmitting diseases. So scrub thoroughly with warm, soapy water for 15 seconds, then rinse properly. This is your part for prevention. |
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