Antibiotic use nine myths Myth 1: Antibiotics = anti-inflammatory drugs Antibiotics do not work directly against inflammation, but rather against the microorganisms that cause inflammation to play a role in killing. Anti-inflammatory drugs are for inflammation, such as the commonly used anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs like aspirin. Most people mistakenly believe that antibiotics can treat all inflammatory conditions. In fact, antibiotics are only indicated for inflammation caused by bacteria and are not effective for inflammation caused by viruses. There are a lot of normal beneficial flora in the human body, if antibiotics are used to treat sterile inflammation, these drugs will suppress and kill the beneficial flora in the human body after entering the body, causing dysbiosis, resulting in a decrease in resistance. The local soft tissue bruises, redness, pain, allergic reactions caused by contact dermatitis, drug dermatitis and virus-induced inflammation that often occur in daily life should not be treated with antibiotics. Myth 2: Antibiotics can prevent infection Antibiotics are only suitable for inflammation caused by bacteria and some other microorganisms, and it is not beneficial to give antibiotics to patients with viral colds, measles, mumps, colds and flu. Antibiotics are directed at the microorganisms that cause inflammation and are killing microorganisms. There is no role in preventing infection; on the contrary, long-term use of antibiotics can cause bacterial resistance. Myth 3: Broad-spectrum antibiotics are better than narrow-spectrum antibiotics The principle of antibiotic use is to use narrow-spectrum not broad-spectrum, to use low-level not high-level, to use one can solve the problem without two, mild or moderate infections are generally not combined antibiotics. In the absence of a clear pathogenic microorganism can be used broad-spectrum antibiotics, if a clear pathogenic microorganism is best to use narrow-spectrum antibiotics. Otherwise, it is easy to enhance the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. Myth 4: New antibiotics are better than old ones, and expensive antibiotics are better than cheap ones In fact, each antibiotic has its own characteristics and has different advantages and disadvantages. Generally, you have to choose according to the disease and the person, and insist on individualized administration. For example, erythromycin is an old antibiotic that is very cheap and it is quite effective for Legionella and mycoplasma infections in pneumonia, while the very expensive carbapenem antibiotics and third generation cephalosporins are not as effective as erythromycin against these diseases. Moreover, some of the older drugs are more stable, cheaper, and have clearer adverse effects.
On the other hand, the birth of new antibiotics is often due to the occurrence of resistance to old antibiotics, and if the old antibiotics are effective, the old ones should be used. Myth 5: The more types of antibiotics you use, the more effective you can control the infection Nowadays, it is generally not advocated to use the combination of antibiotics. This is because the combined use of drugs can increase some unreasonable medication factors, which not only can not increase the efficacy, but also reduce the efficacy, and easy to produce some toxic side effects, or bacterial resistance to drugs. Therefore, the more types of drugs are combined, the higher the incidence of toxic side effects and adverse reactions caused. Generally speaking, in order to avoid drug resistance and toxic side effects, you should never use two kinds of antibiotics if you can solve the problem with one. Myth 6: Use antibiotics when you have a cold Viruses or bacteria can cause colds. Virus-caused colds are viral colds and bacteria-caused colds are bacterial colds. Antibiotics are only useful for bacterial colds. In fact, many colds are viral colds. Strictly speaking, there is no effective medicine for viral colds, only symptomatic treatment without the need for antibiotics. We may have all experienced this, after the cold habitually buy some cold medicine in the pharmacy, while adding a little antibiotics to use. In fact, antibiotics are useless at this time and are a waste and abuse. Myth 7: Antibiotics for fever Antibiotics are only for inflammatory fevers caused by bacteria and some other microorganisms, and are harmful to patients with viral colds, measles, mumps, colds and flu given antibiotics. Those with pharyngitis and upper respiratory tract infections are mostly caused by viruses and antibiotics are ineffective.
In addition, even fever caused by bacterial infection has many different types, and antibiotics such as cephalosporin should not be used blindly. For example, fever caused by tuberculosis can be delayed if antibiotics are used blindly and the regular anti-TB treatment is delayed. It is best to use the medication under the guidance of a doctor. Myth 8: Frequent change of antibiotics The efficacy of antibiotics has a cycle problem, if the efficacy of using a certain antibiotic is temporarily bad, the first consideration should be the lack of time to use the drug. In addition, improper route of administration and the immune function status of the whole body can also affect the efficacy of antibiotics. If it is related to these factors, the efficacy will be improved if it is adjusted. Frequent medication changes can cause confusion in medication administration, which can harm the body. Moreover, frequent drug changes can easily make bacteria resistant to multiple drugs. Myth 9: Stop the medication once it is effective As we know earlier, there is a cycle of antibiotic use. If you don’t have enough time, you may not see the effect at all; even if you do, you should take enough cycles under the guidance of your doctor. If you stop taking the medication once it has a little effect, not only will you not be able to cure the disease, but even if the condition has improved, it may rebound because of the residual bacteria.