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Antibiotics Ineffective for Flu
When patients experience the flu this season, they often demand antibiotics, but those drugs
do nothing to fight viral infections. Antiviral medications like Tamiflu can help, but
antibiotics can't help. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections exclusively. Flues and
colds are viruses. Approximately 90 to 95 per cent of infections are viral so most people
do not require antibiotics.
But sometimes viruses can lead to bacterial infections, which do need antibiotics. You
should see a doctor if an illness gets worse or lasts a long time. Do not save antibiotics
for the next time you get sick and do no take antibiotics prescribes for someone else.
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The Centers for Disease Control is concerned that patients are asking for, and doctors are
prescribing, too many antibiotics for such common afflictions as the cold or flu. Doctors
know antibiotics have no effect on a virus, but a loath to turn a patient down that might
go away feeling hurt that their doctor gave them no prescription.
Each unnecessary prescription increases the chance that the bacteria that plague the world
will soon acquire immunity to present-day antibiotic offerings. Although drug companies are
always trying to find new antibiotics, the truth is that there are very few available on today's
market that haven't been impacted by overuse. As doctors over-prescribe antibiotics for flu,
strains resistant to treatment continue to emerge.
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