True or False? Taking an antibiotic can help you avoid getting a cold?

Question

Why/Why not?

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Answer 1

False.

Antibiotics treat bacterial infections. A cold is a virus.

Rhinoviruses and coronaviruses are the viruses responsible for most colds. There are over 200 viruses that can cause cold symptoms.

Occasionally someone with a cold virus will contract a secondary bacterial infection, such as a sinus infection or an ear infection. Since that person then has a bacterial infection as well as a viral infection, he/she is given an antibiotic.

Antibiotic overuse has resulted in the "superbugs" that have become so written-about in the media, including MRSA, which was once mostly limited to the hospital setting and now has become community-borne. You might have read about the strep and staph superinfections that have begun to plague some parts of the country. Antibiotic overuse is mostly responsible for this.

Why? Antibiotics kill most bacteria, but not all of it. The bacteria the antibiotics don't kill simply keeps multiplying. There are even some strains of bacteria (such as one type of gonorrhea) that produce penicillinase, which actually destroys penicillin. The same is true of surface disinfectant wipes and antiseptic hand gels--they aren't really necessary outside of the healthcare setting and they only encourage overgrowth of superbugs.

Answer 2

False, antibiotics are for bacterial infection and taking them for a cold is useless. Antibiotics are the most common overused medication and causes the body to loose its ability to fight everyday bacterias if used for anything other than bacterial infections that your body hasn't been able to fight off on its own...Colds are viral. Vitamin C may help ward off a cold.

Answer 3

False. An antibiotic kills bacteria, a cold is a virus and antibiotics dont kill a virus.

Answer 4

No. Antibiotics serve one purpose...to treat bacterial infections.Colds are viral therefore antibiotics are useless...even if you already HAVE a cold.
A secondary infection,i.e bronchitis,ear infection etc might follow a cold where as you might need that antibiotic,but that would be the only case.

Answer 5

nope antibiotics are for bacteria, and the cause of the common cold is a virus

Answer 6

False. Antibiotics KILL bacteria, they are specially targeted to do so. They can't build up immunity to it by exposing you to that bacteria otherwise they would have to put bacteria in the medicine.

Answer 7

false, viruses cause colds, antibiotic treat bacteria, not viruses.