Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics for Various Diseases and Infections

Antibiotics are amidst the most regularly recommended medications in modern medicine. Antibiotics are useless against viral infections. When you take antibiotics, follow the guidelines carefully. It is important to finish your medicine even if you feel improved. If you stop treatment too soon, some bacteria may survive and re-infect you. Do not save antibiotics for later or use someone else's prescription. Each time you take an antibiotic, bacteria are killed. Sometimes, bacteria causing infections are already resistant to prescribed antibiotics. Bacteria may also become resistant during treatment of an infection. Resistant bacteria do not respond to the antibiotics and continue to cause infection. A common misconception is that a person's body becomes resistant to specific medicines. However, it is the bacteria, not people, that become resistant to the medicines.