• Knowledgebase: Antibiotic Information and Questions

    Questions about types of antibiotics, when to use them, and side-effects of using them.

    9. What is the concern about using too many antibiotics? - Top

    Antibiotics are wonderful drugs that help us treat infections by killing bacteria. They do not kill viruses which make up 50 - 75% of childhood infections. The problem has arisen from the heavy use of antibiotics 'and this usage has allowed bacteria to be exposed to antibiotics and then develop resistance. These resistant bacteria are becoming more prevalent over the last 10 years all over the world and are much more difficult to kill.

    Therefore, by treating with antibiotics, situations where they are not indicated, we are creating more resistant bacteria for everyone to deal with. The answer is to try our best to identify illnesses caused by bacteria and treat these with the simplest antibiotics available and in illnesses not caused by bacteria - viral illnesses, allergies, etc.. - treat these with other medications or just allow the illness to run its natural course. I recently read a nice article in the November Good Housekeeping (okay, don't ask why I was reading this nonscientific journal), which listed 5 things people can do to help with this problem; they were:

    1) If you get sick, don't self-medicate with antibiotics, and don't pressure your doctor to prescribe them needlessly.

    2) For some infections, most notably strep throat and urinary tract infection, you shouldn't accept antibiotics without first getting a culture (about $15 to $20) to confirm the diagnosis.

    3) If your doctor prescribes an antibiotic, ask if you can get better without it. It's controversial, but some experts think that it may by preferable to reserve antibiotics for only serious bacterial infections.

    4) Don’t stop taking antibiotics if your symptoms let up. Complete the medicine as prescribed to make sure that as many bacteria as possible are killed.

    5) Never share antibiotics, and don't save leftover pills for future use.

    - Updated: March 22, 2001

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    • James L Horwitz, MD

    David C. Thomas, MD

    Barbara Lindberg, PNP