Antibiotics only work for bacterial infections. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses. So often however, antibiotics are prescribed for viral infections, such as the common cold or flu, or when patients are just fed up with all the symptoms of viral infections, such as, coughing, sinusitis, sore throats and some ear and eye infections. Often GP’s feel pressurized by patients to prescribe these “wonder, cure all antibiotics”, even though they know they will not actually help the patient.
The frequent inappropriate use of antibiotics, has lead to the development of more and more antibiotic resistant bugs, with many of the common antibiotic drugs becoming increasingly ineffective. Bacteria can adapt and develop defence mechanisms against an antibiotic, and in this way become resistant. The inherent danger of such over-use is that the day you are hit by a multi-drug resistant bacterial infection, there may be devastating consequences, with no effective protection any longer through available antibiotics.
We need to use antibiotics with great care, under medical supervision and only when it is really needed to fight a serious bacterial infection. Do not use antibiotics for a common cold – let your immune system fight the virus – only if and when a bacterial infection sets in, do you need to resort to the aid of antibiotics.