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What are antibiotics?

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Before the days of antibiotics, millions of people died from complications of bacterial infections. These included pneumonia, tuberculosis, diphtheria, diarrhoea and post-surgical infections.

As recently as World War 1, millions of soldiers died because of wounds that became infected by bacteria, and not from action on the battlefield. By World War 2, Alexander Fleming had discovered pennicillin, and its widespread use contributed to a much lower fatality rate among wounded soldiers. 

Antibiotics are powerful medicines that work by changing the cell wall structure of bacteria. They also interfere with protein production in the bacteria. In this way, they can either kill or weaken bacteria, or keep them from reproducing. This enables the body’s immune system to beat the bacterial infection more easily. 

Antibiotics are used to treat a range of ailments – from minor irritations to life-threatening diseases. However, they don’t work against viral infections (colds or flu) – only against the secondary bacterial infections often associated with these illnesses. 

In many cases, the body can fight off small infections without antibiotics. But some doctors tend to prescribe antibiotics even for minor infections – a situation that can lead to antibiotic resistance. This means that bacteria develop the ability to resist the effect of antibiotics. This, in turn, leads to a situation where antibiotics might not work as effectively when you need to treat serious conditions. 

In the general population, drug-resistant forms of some diseases appear, like drug-resistant tuberculosis or pneumonia, which can be incredibly difficult to treat. It’s also dangerous for patients not to complete a course of antibiotics, as it gives bacteria the chance to return with new vigour for a “rematch”. 


Remember
Antibiotics are definitely not a one-size-fits-all kind of medication. Your doctor will prescribe certain antibiotics for specific bacterial infections, and you should never take antibiotics that weren’t prescribed for your specific infection. 

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