why must we finish the antibiotics?

Question

any possibility it may lead to fatal?

Answer 1

It's all actually about evolution.

When you take antibiotics they either kill the bacteria (bactericidal antibiotics) or they stop them replicating (bacteriostatic antibiotics).

As you take the drug more and more of the bacteria die. However, bacteria divide very quickly and so evolutionary selective pressure, acts on bacteria MUCH, MUCH faster than multicelled organisms.

Just by chance some of the bacteria will happen to have mutations that reduce the effectiveness of the drug. Once you've taken some of the drug you've killed off the competition for these mutant bacteria and they have much more opportunity to multiply, develop more mutations and become completely resistant to the drug.

So when you take the drug for a partial course you may kill enough of the bacteria to cure the symptoms. But unless you take it for a full course you allow the bugs to become resistant to the antibiotic, and the infection may recur OR the next time you need a course of antibiotics the bacteria may well not respond to it at all.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

First...so that your infection is completely cured. Your doctor would have a good idea of the dosage in order to wipe out the bacteria responsible. Just because you may 'feel better' doesn't mean all of the offending bacteria are gone.

Second, if you stop taking your medicine early, any surviving bacteria will develope a tolerance, and then a resistance to that particular antibiotic. This is why penicillin, our first antibiotic, is now almost completely useless. Bacteria are able to adapt and rebound in a very short time! This is why it's absolutely crucial to follow directions in taking your medicine.

Lastly, you don't want to keep your 'old medications', particularly antibiotics. They have a limited shelf life, and can turn useless, or even dangerous as they age. Thus if you do happen to have 'leftover' meds, it's best to dispose of them in a proper manner. Pharmacists are more than willing to answer questions you may have.

Answer 3

The bacteria that the antibiotic is fighting has a certain half-life, which means how long it take to kill half of it. Further, the bacteria can reproduce itself. The length of time to take an antibiotic if the time that all the bacteria would need to reproduce itself. In simple terms, if the bacteria has a half-life of say, 10 days, you need to take the antibiotic that long. If you stop when you're feeling better but prior to the entire regimen, some of the bacteria can still grow and reproduce and you just have to start all over again.

Answer 4

Doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat bacterial infections.

If you do not finish the antibiotics there is a chance the infection in your system will come back and develop a resistance to the antibiotic rendering it immune to future encounters with that particular antibiotic.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is the reason why doctors are worries about our current arsenal against microbes. New strains of old bacterial infections once thought eradicated are now coming back with a vengeance.

What's worse is that bacteria have the ability to share genes with different bacteria strains and therefore, pass on immunity to antibiotics to future strains.

Right now, medical technology is struggling to create a new arsenal of antibiotics. The strongest of the antibiotics we have are rapidly becoming ineffective so it's critical that people do not give bacteria a chance to develop resistance by not completing your antibiotic regimen.

Answer 5

of course it could lead to a fatality...to the ailment.

the reason to finish is:

even though you feel better after taking the medicine for three days, dont save the other two days worth for later. by doing so, you may not kill the germ that produces the symptoms, you merely damage it.

in this fashion, we can actually produce a strain of germ that is now resistant to the antibiotic, because the surviving bacterium have the chance to "regenerate" and become stronger against the original antibiotic.

-eagle

Answer 6

i'm sorry to make certain that no longer one in all you said the very undeniable actuality that you boost a tolerance to them at the same time as no longer comprehensive and it then causes a situation noted as MRSA. Has absolutely everyone forgotten so quickly about this plausible pretty contagious antibiotic problem. Antibiotics all have a series purpose. They eliminate all sorts of infections and there are a range of diverse classifications for the diverse sorts. basically at the moment all of us knew the hazards of no longer taking the comprehensive antibiotic prescription the physician writes for use to take. i comprehend that the Yahoo! solutions archives must have allot of a form of solutions to this very question. Does everybody that spoke back this question use this tremendous files section previously you ask? i comprehend I easily have and also you're continuously requested for comments too, which will strengthen it at the same time as plausible. Please human beings why no longer attempt to continuously use each source accessible to us, inclusive of the comprehensive question and answer section or maybe help settle on stunning solutions too. this variety of vast quantity of situations i will bypass there basically to make certain the numerous diverse questions and solutions, then help settle on the superb one at the same time as the asker would not and then basically to discover that no individual else voted. sturdy success and God Bless

Answer 7

The first few days of antibiotic use kills off the weak germs. It may take a week or more to kill off the more resistant bacteria. If you stop too early, then the really nasty bugs are still alive and can flourish.

Yes, depending on the infection, it can be fatal.

Answer 8

The reason you are supposed to take all of the prescribed antibiotics is because the virus might not be killed yet and in oreder to make sure that it is you need to finish off the antibiotics. If not there is a good chance the virus will form up again in your body.

Answer 9

Finish antibiotics to kill all the bacteria.
Don't finish killing all bacteria, survivors become resistant to that drug.
Take that drug again (because the survivors infected you again or someone else) nothing happens.

Repeat this cycle enough times, you get bacteria that are resistant to multiple drugs. when that happens, it is as though we lived before penicillin. This may not seem important in some cases, such as strep throat, where all you have is a sore throat, but when you have a bug that is causing sepsis and multi organ failure, you want the bug to die.

Answer 10

It's true that antibiotics themselves are not only harmful to the organism we are fighting, but harmful to us who take it also. this seems to be your question. So the trick is, as you imply, to take enough to kill the germs, but not enough to seriously hurt ourselves.

Different germs have different sensitivities and resistances to various antibiotics. It is important to do a culture before prescribing an antibiotic to see what that particular germ is susceptible to and resistant to. Erythromycin is no longer recommended for many strains of strep, nor is tetracycline, and using those for streps that are resistant will not get rid of the infection and may end up to be harmful instead if continued, and even result in a worse infection if other 'friendly' bacteria are killed off and the resistant strep thrives. This is actually an unrecognized major cause of 'stubborn' infections - lack of proper cultering prior to selection of antibiotic.
some of the antibiotics are very strong and it is needed to take only as much as is needed to kill off all the germs, so that none remain to mutate but not to make the person sick. Two things that can help when a person is on antibiotics for a long time are to take vitamin K supplements,, since there can be a depletion when the friendly bacteria are gone and there is less production of vitamin K,,, and either yogurt which will replace the friendly bacteria, or a lactobacillus blend found at your pharmacy.