When we have runny nose or sore throat, we go to see doctors. We ask doctors to prescribe antibiotics, and then they may reluctantly prescribe antibiotics for you.
Antibiotics are drugs which can kill bacteria usually by making them not be able to produce bacterial essential proteins or popping up open their cell walls. However, these work only to bacteria, not virus or fungi.
Usually, when we have cold, flu, short-term sinus infection, bronchitis, or runny nose, it is virus which makes you ill. So, it is no good to use antibiotics for them.
But, tens of millions of antibiotics are prescribed in a year for virus. Doctors say that the reason they write unnecessary prescriptions are mainly because of patients' demand, according to Centers for Disease control and Prevention.
If your doctor says that you or your kids will be better soon without medication, you can just follow his professional ideas, not feeling like you wasted time and money for nothing. In fact, it's better for you and our community.
You probably have heard of 'antibiotics resistance'. Unnecessary uses of antibiotics increase it significantly.
To bacteria, antibiotics are harmful agents. Just like all the creatures on the Earth, they evolve and try to survive in the environment with antibiotics, so bacteria gain the ability to resist to the antibiotics. It is even easier for bacteria because they divide into two every few hours and many mutations occur meanwhile. It is way faster than the rate human develops new stronger antibiotics.
If we use antibiotics too often, it will accelerate bacteria to get resistant to antibiotics. Already, there are some bacteria which are not treatable with any antibiotics existing.
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