What is the biggest reason for this over prescription of antibiotics?
149348
Patients are misinformed that antibiotics can cure a common cold virus.  When the doctor tries to correct this, the patient gets demanding believing that they know best.  Or the doctor is burnt out on their career and no longer cares.  This is a huge factor in bacteria, such as streptococcal (strep), building up a resistance and becoming harder to treat.  The another factor is that people do not follow the directions on their perscriptions.
1176734
No need to worry.  There is no decreased protection during use of antibiotics.
587674
just go to wikipedia and search antibiotics.
633222
Certain antibiotics will bind to the calcium in the dairy rather than be absorbed and used by your system.  This is the reason for the warning on the label to avoid dairy while taking the med
142131
Well this depends on a couple of things. Is this a proven bacterial infection? If so, that's fine. If it is a viral infection, it's not going to kill the virus. If it's been prescribed because of the possibility of a superinfection BY a bacteria it's a reasonable option. Antibiotics when used properly are generally safe.\n\nAn editorial note: Never give non-prescribed antibiotics to your child. Antibiotics are bacteria specific. Like other medications, they need to be prescribed by a physician.
51448
Might be several reasons for that. Treatment will depend on that, see links below. The Medline link: Click in the left menues to see subcategories.
505753
First of all, your biggest concern should be that you were "shooting up" in the first place. Second, you should NEVER EVER EVER take an antibiotic without having it prescribed by a doctor. Different antibiotics treat different kinds of bacteria, and when taken without a prescription pose a danger - they can make the infection more serious and resistant to treatment. Third - what are you thinking? See a doctor ASAP. You need treatment for whatever you have done to your arm (or leg or whatever), and you also need treatment for your drug problem. Please get help and see a doctor immediately.
418861
There are quite a few, you must ask your doctor to be sure that the right antibiotic is treating the right infection-bacteria.  I do know that prolong use of any antibiotic will build up your immune system to the antibiotic and it will not be effective to fight off future infections.
121470
Your question may not be phrased correctly.  Antiobiotics are on the rise because they work and we get sick.  They are also added to animal feed to keep them healthy so we can eat them.\n\nI would think that the question you should be asking is, "Why is antiobiotic resistance on the rise today".  The answer is that our prolific use of antibiotics, even when we don't need them, has weeded out the bacteria that were most susceptible while allowing those with mild resistance to survive better from reduced competition.  Over time asthese mildly resistent bacteria are spread and further selected for my antibiotics they lead to moderate resisteance to high resistance and ultimately to complete resistance.  This doesn't make the disease worse, but they are harder to eliminate which can make the disease progress and become worse.
1070753
I'm not sure about infection, but antibiotics can do it.
594306
I've never heard this - but I know some contraceptives become less effective when antibiotics are used.  (That's how I got here.)  Often after elective surgery antibiotics are issues, so perhaps the idea is to get you used to not taking them so that you don't rely on them afterwards?
71359
Please find a gastroenterologist for an evaluation.  I have heard of many people having to have more than IV antibiotic.  But in some cases that is all that is needed.  Get at least one if not two more opinions.
735918
Sounds like sinuses or possibly allergies.  If the doctor gave you a prescription, it would probably be best to ask them what they think it is for them to give you said prescript.
250159
You probably have a sinus infection and need antibiotics.
1043317
Antibiotics literally translates to "destroy-life".  Antibiotics are designed to remedy bacterial infection, by killing the living bacteria that causes the infection.\n\nYour doctor most likely said that you have a VIRAL infection.  This means that it is from a virus.  Viruses are not living things in the same way that bacteria are, so they cannot be killed by antibiotics.  Instead, they have to run their course as your body fights them off.\n\nTo the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as a VITAL infection, you may have just misheard or miskeyed.
553090
First of all, antibiotics will only work against a bacterial infection, not viral.  It's possible the doctor wanted to confirm that this was bacterial pneumonia (yes, there is also viral pneumonia).  \n\nSo, you may be wondering, "Why not give antibiotics either way, just to be safe?"\n\nUnfortunately, the wanton distribution of antibiotics for every little sniffle that came into a doctor's office is responsible for creating some very strong bacteria today.  The overuse of antibiotics has caused the bacteria to evolve and become stronger and more resistant to antibiotic treatment.  Your doctor is probably doing the right thing by withholding antibiotic treatment initially.
578900
First, why it can be bad. Antibiotics are substances that kill bacteria; penecillin is one of the most famous. They help the body by killing bacteria that are causing an infection. But they don't work against viruses. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a virus or bacteria is causing an illness. Bacteria can become immune to antibiotics, just like people can develop a tolerance to medicines and they don't work like they should. When bacteria become immune to an antibiotic, that means that the antibiotic won't be effective at killing that strain of bacteria. So the next person who needs an antibiotic for that strain of bacteria needs a different (and usually stronger) antibiotic. If bacteria get immune to enough antibiotics, they can cause serious outbreaks that people won't be able to deal with. But there's sort-of good news: there are many strains of bacteria out there. Although that means many chances of infection, it also means that people will get different strains (and different strains mean different medicines and different susceptibilities to antibiotics). If a bacteria strain is immune to some of the strongest antibiotics available, then it would be a super-bacteria, causing potentially millions of deaths world-wide.\n\nDoctors prescribe antibotics for a number of reasons. A lot of people don't feel like their doctor visit was worthwhile unless they get a prescription to help them feel better. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a virus or a bacteria is causing the problem. Sometimes doctors prescribe antibiotics for virus illnesses because they think that it will help kill any bacteria in the body, so the immune system can focus on the virus infection.