Self medication has become very common nowadays. Antibiotics are amongst the most commonly misused medicines taken often when they are not actually needed.
We often see a patient saying he / she had one dose of Erythromycin for a sore throat. The sore throat could be due to an allergy or a viral infection, in which case an antibiotic is not required. Antibiotics are given only for bacterial infections. Frequent gargles / lozenges to control irritation and Paracetamol would have sufficed.
Self medication has become very common nowadays – Antibiotics are also taken by patients for symptoms of cold – Frequent use of Antibiotics also destroy the healthy bacteria in our system.
Antibiotics are also taken by patients for symptoms of cold. They often do not help as the symptoms may be due to common cold or an allergy. This patient could have very well taken some decongestants and anti allergic medicines for the condition.
Antibiotic misuse has led to the emergence of bacterial strains which show resistance to conventional antibiotics. These superbugs are capable of causing more serious infections which require higher antibiotics. Frequent use of antibiotics also destroy the healthy bacteria in our system (particularly in the gastrointestinal tract). The healthy bacteria (which confer immunity) are replaced by harmful bacteria which pose a threat.
Another word of advice is that the complete duration of antibiotic treatment (as prescribed by the doctor) must be taken for optimum benefit and also to prevent emergence of resistant strains.
