Are antibiotics the answer?

[bluemoon24]

It's time for some tough love: When you're shuddering through flu season this year, don't reach for the antibiotics. They won't help, at least not for most of you, doctors say. Antibiotics fight bacteria, and the flu is caused by a virus, which has to run its course.



An overzealous demand by patients and an urge to prescribe by some doctors have contributed to bacteria growing resistant to some antibiotics, health officials say. But patients are getting more savvy about this - and health-care professionals are working to get the word out about which illnesses need antibiotics and which need good, old-fashioned bedrest.



"Sometimes it's unfortunately hard to tell," said Donald Lurye, chief medical officer of Welborn Clinic. "Hospitals and nursing homes have to pay careful attention to resistance patterns. They really try to do their best to use antibiotics appropriately."



Colds, flu, bronchitis and most sore throats are caused by viruses, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Old-fashioned treatments are the only way to treat those.



"All those things that grandma used to say, fluids, Tylenol and chicken soup, all those hokey things," said Dr. Betsy Neahring, a pediatrician who writes the Courier & Press' "Dr. Mom" column. "If nothing else, they'll make you feel better while you get better."



Some diseases, including tuberculosis, gonorrhea, malaria and childhood ear infections, have become hard to treat with antibiotic drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 70 percent of infection-causing bacteria in hospitals are resistant to at least one commonly used drug, the CDC said.



Resistant diseases - and the drugs that are ineffective against them - vary by community, Lurye said. There are several strains in the area, most with flulike symptoms.



Sicknesses with sneezes and coughs can be hard to diagnose as viral or bacterial, Lurye said. So treatment options depend on the patient.



"When you have a child under 6 months old who has a fever, that needs to be approached much differently than a healthy 20-year-old," he said. "If you have a respiratory illness and you are not better after five days, or you have a fever that persists after 48 hours, or you find yourself not getting better, it's worth getting checked out."



Hand-washing, doctors say, is the best way to prevent the spread of disease.



Kaynak: SağlıkHaber