Why do doctors prescribe antibiotics for viruses/viral infections?
This is an interesting question, and I will discuss further, but the main answer is doctors don't prescribe antibiotics for colds. You are correct, a cold is caused by a virus.Unfortunately, the patient does not come in with a tattoo on his forehead that says, I have a cold.When I was in medical school, I had a severe bronchitis, and probably pneumonia. Dutifully I went to the doctor that treated the med students. Of course, he was our Statistics teacher. Suffice it to say he was not very good at that either.Long story short, he made me culture my sputum 3 times, which took 6 days, before he would give me antibiotics. I literally almost died. Probably survived only because I was young. 3 times the cultures grew out pure H. Influenza (a bacteria).After I recovered, my friend developed my same symptoms. He asked me what I took, got a prescription, and never even got sick.As a resident in OB/Gyn, I noticed when someone was very ill, we got blood cultures before treatment. Cultures took two days. By that time, they were much sicker.Today, doctors do not hesitate to use triple antibiotic therapy for someone with a serious infection. They do not wait for blood cultures.What did I learn from this? When I was practicing medicine, and developed green or yellow sputum, I treated myself. I could not afford to miss days in my practice. If I did not work, I did not get paid. I am amazed that Bob Costas did not get treatment for his conjunctivitis when he was hosting this last winter Olympics. He kept saying, the doctors told me it would go away. It did, but a week later. How much money did he lose? Personally, I would have treated him and it would have gone away in a day.In summary, if I get a cold I don't treat it with antibiotics. But if I am not sure, I treat it. Every day is important to me, and if I don't have to be sick I choose not to do so.One does not have to use the "big guns" of antibiotics that are available for very serious infections. We should save these. But Doxycycline and Erythromycin can be judiciously used. Antibiotics, when used early in an infection, can prevent it from becoming more serious. This is especially true in Mycoplasma infections, where early treatment can knock it out quickly, but if not treated, it can last for months.If you are the CEO of your company, and can't miss work, I would take the antibiotic. Even though most doctors would disagree with this philosophy, you can bet they are treating themselves when they get sick.
Are antibiotics necessary to clear up sinus and ear infections?
I had problems for years with this but about10 years ago a friend made me lay down and put hydrogen peroxide in my ears---two time a day for a couple days should work and it also took care of the sinus infections although i dont know why--pour just a small capful pour in your ear and lay down--about 10 minutes or when the bubbles have almost stopped--ive never used nose sprays or cold meds again--however i do take a visteril ( benadryl) 1 a day and any time i feel one coming on i do this and it stops mmediatly--no q-tips!!
Antibiotics good for stomach infection?
Antibiotics kill bad bacteria in your body. An infection is caused by bacteria, so I think your doctor did all right in prescribing antibiotics. Unfortunately, some bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics and the drugs won't work with one dose, or you might need a different one.
Do I have to continue taking antibiotics if I didn't have anything in the first place?
here is the theory behind antibiotic resistance, you get an infection and kill 99% of the bacteria, some stay alive because they may need more of a dose, they metabolized the drug quickly and survived, they have good genes "survival of the fittest". Now you stop taking meds, all of those bacteria who survived first dose can now multiply and are now stronger, so you go back on antibiotics and it takes 2 days to kill 99%, and you keep repeating cycle, until you get super bugs like MRSA. in your case since you never had any infection this does not pertain to you, and for someone stating they are a medical proffesional to deny that there is no such thing as antibiotic resistance is irresponsible. major issues in health care today because people are strengthening the bacteria population. it is you call, you probably did kill good bacteria and are now susceptible to an opportunistic infection, it will not hurt you to finish the course of antibiotics since you already have them. If you want to restore your "good" bacteria try natural yogurt or acidophiles.
How did people survive without antibiotics in the past?
People did die of infections. President Calvin Coolidge’s son died of an infection contracted through a blister, that would have been wiped out with a course of $3 antibiotics today.But not all infections killed right away. Strep throat turned into Scarlet fever. Sometimes that killed young people right away. In other people, it might cause rheumatic fever, which led to arthritis that had an onset in their 30s, or to heart disease that killed them when they were still relatively young (this is what is described happening to Beth in Little Women, and is based on a real event). It also could lead to blindness. This is what happened to Mary Ingalls, the older sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and is described in the “Little House” series of books.Until the first half of the last century, one way of stopping the spread of infection was with quarantine, and the population was just not as large, with people not working in large office buildings. The upshot is, in the late 20th and early 21st century, a person comes into contact with a much greater number of people during the day than was typical for someone 100 or more years ago. This alone kept a lot of infections from spreading the way they do now, so people did not get as many viruses and things like bacterial sinus infections as they do now.However, people did get infected cuts, and those could be deadly. That’s what happened to Coolidge’s son. Just about everyone knew someone who had died of blood poisoning from a wound. In fact, of the four US presidents who have been assassinated, two actually died of infected wounds, and would have survived if they had been shot after WWII. Ronald Reagan’s wounds were more serious than those of James Garfield (who lingered for several months before dying) or William McKinley, but modern surgery, sanitation, and antibiotics saved Reagan.So, people did die, it’s just that the ones who did never told the story.
Without access to antibiotics, what's the best treatment for tuberculosis?
There is no appropriate treatment without antibiotics, now that they exist. The disease is deadly and contagious, and the drugs work well. A disease that ‘consumed’ untold millions is now rarely seen, and kills even lesss often. (One of its common names was ‘consumption’)But, of historical interest, people used to improve their odds (and some survived) by following the advice that was once common. That advice was to go to a sanitarium, or to move to a farm, or an area with ‘fresh air’. Such places not only had fresh air (which didn’t affect tuberculosis) but also a lot more sunlight (which did). It seems Vitamin D was the important difference. Humans make it when they receive enough sun exposure. We knew that very low levels caused rickets, but we didn’t know the importance of mildly low levels on immune function.
Would you have survived your childhood ear infections and strep throat without penicillin?
Very possibly but not without permanent effects.At one point when my low-income family did not take me to the doctor with an ear infection, some of the inner-ear bones became deformed in my right ear. This was not discovered until I was in junior high, and the school held screenings for hearing problems. I was referred to a specialist who found that the infection had permanently affected the hearing in that ear.Regarding strep throat, it can lead to heart valve damage if left untreated. Here is a link to read more at Mayo Clinic —Strep throat - Symptoms and causes
I want to stop my dogs antibiotics can that cause harm?
Always finish an antibiotic prescription. Even if there is no harm to your dog, the reason is because any time someone starts taking antibiotics but doesn't take them long enough to completely kill an infection, then the infection will become resistant to the antibiotic you used. When it spreads, it will be harder for the next one to get rid of. I understand that your dog has an infection that this antibiotic is ineffective against, but there could be something else that the antibiotic is working on. The antibiotic will not cause problems for your dog if he keeps taking it, and it is likely that there will not be any issues if you stop giving it to him. But the responsible thing to do is just what your vet said. By secondary infection he means something that is not diagnosed will rebound if it is there. Then the cephalexin will not help, and your vet will have to give your dog something stronger in that case. Super bacteria is a real threat. Just finish the prescription.