Antibiotics are medicines used for treating certain types of infections. They are mainly used for treating bacterial infections. It is said that nearly 30% of the antibiotics are prescribed without the actual need for patients. This makes people antibiotic-resistant. This is a problem where the antibiotic medicine given to your body does not fight against the infection. The bacteria become resistant to the drug. This seems to be an alarming condition and nearly 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections are reported every year in the U.S. Thus it also results in a high number of deaths in the U.S. A proper understanding of the use of antibiotics for viral infections can help to manage antibiotic resistance.

The following talks about being aware of antibiotics and its usage.

Health conditions That Require Antibiotics

Antibiotics are mainly used to combat bacterial infections. High life-threatening health conditions like pneumonia would require antibiotics to prevent the condition from aggravating. People who are suffering from kidney problems, cancer patients etc. are highly prone to infections. These people must be treated with effective antibiotics at the earliest to avoid the onset of infections.

Read More About : How Antibiotics Help In Killing Viruses?

Health Conditions That Do Not Require Antibiotics

Antibiotics for viral infections are not actually required. Thus people who are suffering from viral infections like cold, flu etc need not intake antibiotics as it does not work on viruses. It is only meant for bacterial infections. There are certain bacterial infections that do not actually require antibiotics. Certain types of sinus infections and ear infections can be cured without the need for an antibiotic.

Side Effects of Antibiotics

When you intake antibiotics without the actual need then you may face certain side effects in your body. The common side effects are rashes, diarrhoea, nausea and a lot more. There are situations where the intake of antibiotics can be fatal when it results in severe diarrhoea.

Combating Against Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

Follow the following to be free from antibiotics resistant infections.

Wash your hands: Make sure that you clean your hands regularly so that it can prevent the spreading of germs.

Go For Vaccinations: There are vaccines provided for certain types of antibiotic-resistant infections. Talk to your health care provider and get vaccinated.

Points To Be Noted

Follow the below points when making use of antibiotics for viral infections.

• It is important that people must not self medicate with over-counter antibiotics.
• Use antibiotics prescribed by health care professionals. Be careful with the dosage prescribed.
• Check for any side effects in your body after the intake of antibiotics
• There are several ways to treat viral infections. Keep in mind that viral infections subside within a period of one or two weeks.

The above are some of the things to be known regarding the use of antibiotics for various types of infections.