Patients
Antibiotics
Antibiotics
By: Joanne | October 14, 2008 | Category: Health
Technician Looking at Petri DishMy? daughter was sick this week. Because she had a fever for a few days and a persistent sore throat, we thought we better take her to the doctor to see if she had an infection and needed an antibiotic. The doctor did a strep test and it looks like her discomfort is just the result of the virus, so no antibiotic for her.
Remember that antibiotics aren’t miracle drugs that cure everything. They’re not going to help a virus like a cold or flu or even most sore throats. But if you’ve got a bacterial infection, like strep throat, an antibiotic should do the trick.
Winter is coming and we’ll have plenty of illness to go with it. It’s important that we’re all smart about antibiotic usage, and we only use them when it’s appropriate. If we misuse antibiotics, we run the risk of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics normally work by killing bacteria but if you use the wrong antibiotic or don’t take the full course, you might not kill all the bacteria. They grow and spread and now they're harder to kill.
The more often you use an antibiotic, the more likely it is that the germs will resist it. This can make some diseases very hard to control, like MRSA. So try to stay well this winter and remember that if you don’t have a bacterial infection, forget about the antibiotics! Turn to over-the-counter medications to ease your symptoms, or rely on good old home remedies like tea with honey, which is my favorite. What’s yours?