Antibiotics have been used to fight bacterial infections for over seventy years. Almost everyone has come into contact with antibiotics whether in tablet, syrup or ointment form.
In many cases patients fail to use antibiotics properly. Classical illnesses that antibiotics are used against are bladder infections or tonsillitis.
Antibiotics are frequently used to prevent bacteria moving from the bladder to the kidneys. Side effects are a rarity. But taking antibiotics also harms intestinal bacteria and can lead to diarrhea in some people.
Allergic skin reactions can also occur , if an antibiotic treatment is used for an extended period of time. Consuming alcohol while taking antibiotics is dangerous. It can lead to complications in the lives that magnify the effects of taking alcohol.
Antibiotics can also reduce the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill, its main function however, is to prevent the growth of bacteria.
Antibiotics are produced in several different ways, There are naturally occurring antibiotics such as penicillin but there are also synthetic antibiotics. It come in two categories wide spectrum and narrow spectrum.
Wide spectrum antibiotics are effective against a large range of bacteria. Narrow spectrum antibiotics are used to fight specific types of bacteria. Because of the widespread use of antibiotics, some bacteria have become resistant to them. They can no longer be treated with conventional medicines such as with wide spectrum antibiotics.
To prevent bacteria from becoming resistant, antibiotics can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription in most countries, but it is not the case everywhere. In Spain, for example, they can be bought over the counter.
Resistance there is very high according to German’s Berlin based Association of Pharmacists. The pharmaceutical industry is also reluctant to release newly developed antibiotics, whose the market to preserve their effectiveness in serious jeopardy.
And most doctors, are now careful to make sure they do not prescribe antibiotics too early, in the treatment.
In the case of children, a topical infection treatment is used with sinusitis with drops that reduce swelling according to a German EENT specialist. An antibiotic is first used when an infection develops but doctors try to find out the most effective method to fight the infection.
A smear sample is examined in the laboratory to find the best way to fight the germ. Antibiotics work soon after they have been taken. In most case, the patient is free from symptoms within a few hours.
But this is exactly the point where patients are most in danger of suffering a relapse. If they stop taking the medicines too soon because they are feeling better, not all the bacteria may have been killed.
Patients are strongly advised to follow their course of treatment for as long as their doctors tells them to. That will prevent the chance of some bacteria surviving treatment and becoming resistant.
Anyone who is then infected with those bacteria can no longer be treated effectively with the same antibiotics. It should not be prescribed as a precautionary measure. Antibiotics should only be given when an infection is present.
Taking antibiotic tablets to take catarrh is therefore the wrong course of treatment to follow. Most people are not still fully aware that antibiotics are not effective against viruses and cannot be used to fight the common cold.
Antibiotics are still the most effective way of treating a serious bacterial infection such as meningitis or a lung infection, which can be fatal if not treated in time.
