Antibiotics Resistance???

Question

Am I correct? Antibiotic resistance is from over pescribing in the community only, HOWEVER within the individual - over pescribing antibiotics will not cause any type of resistence for that particualr individual given they take full correct course?
What I am trying to get at, is if giving antibiotics to ppl with viruses (which obviously dont do anything) - may be worth it for the individual - as it would take care of the (potential)secondary bacterial infection quicker....

Answer 1

This is a very good question. The answer to this is not easy to answer in a short paragraph.

First off, Antibiotic resistance is NOT the result of over prescribing antibiotics in the cummunity only, although it is a large portion of it. In general, antibiotic resistance is the result of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans as well as animals. There has been a lot of scrutiny placed on the use of antibiotics in production animals. This is a good topic for another question and I won't get into it here.

Now lets get to your example. Individuals with a prinary viral infection can be susceptible to a secondary bacterial infection where normally the bacterium wouldn't cause an infection on its own. The individual's immune system is weakened due to the viral infection, thereby unable to fight off the bacterial infection. A good example of this can be seen in poutlry. E. coli is the most common cause of bacterial infections in production poultry, but is normally a secondary infection after the birds are first infected with a virus.

Now to get to your question. Giving antibiotics to someone with a viral infection would help prevent a secondary bacterial infection. But the problem is that, as you pointed out, this is a potential infection isn't currently seen. As I am sure you know, antibotic resistance is the result of overuse and misuse of antibiotics. So while giving an antibiotic to an individual may or may not be beneficial to the individual, the continued use of this pratice will lead to more resistant bacteria (which has and is already happening). So, although you may (big if involved there) be helping the individual short term, in the long run you are hurting the population.

Again, this is just a small example. There is no way we could get into the ins and outs of this topic here. A good book to read on the subject is The Antibiotic Paradox by Stuart Levy.

Answer 2

No. An individual can be over-prescribed antibiotics. It is not good to give antibiotics to viral infections because they won't do any good, and a resistance to antibiotics can result. Viruses do not automatically cause a secondary bacterial infection. Unless the doctor knows that a certain person's viral infection always causes a bacterial infection, it is not worth it to give antibiotics. I've never had a viral infection turn into nor cause a bacterial infection later on.

Answer 3

I think everytime you take an antibiotic for a virus, you're body is only building a stronger resistance to antibiotics, since they are not for viruses. Doctor kept putting me on them for the secondary thing- ended up with C. Diff.( don't know exactly what it is- except it wipes out good bacteria as well as bad- in system-stomach?) I do know it's an infectious disease- and I thought I was going to die- NO LIE! So I really question the use of antibiotics now useless for a bacterial infection!

Answer 4

Antibiotic resistance is also due to people who do not finish the course of antibiotics, or who insist on being prescribed antibiotics when they are not needed. They can lower your resistance and lead to a really bad case of candida (yeast), causing gastro intestinal problems, skin rashes etc. Really unpleasant!

I only ever ask for antibiotics if I'm sure the illness is bacterial eg chest infection. I've even had a blood test if unsure. So they tend to work for me. I've not had any in years!

Stuff like resistant TB strains is a different thing entirely... possibly due to the illness not being correctly diagnosed to start with, or substandard meds.

If in doubt, get a blood test. Your doctor will thank you for your patience.