Will antibiotics get rid of my cold/flu?
i have just being to the doctors today and he has just gave my antibiotics for it will it cure my cold/flu and if so how long i has a football match on sunday and my birthday on tuesday will i be better?
Posted by gangadharan_nair
Inappropriate antibiotic treatment is another common form of antibiotic misuse. A common example is the prescription and use of antibiotics to treat viral infections such as the common cold that have no effect.
Posted by J B
Antibiotics are not routinely used for colds or the flu because they are caused by viruses and antibiotics do not work on viruses. Your doctor must have thought you had an infection somewhere (throat, sinuses, etc) in order to prescribe the antibiotic. It takes at least 72 hours for the antibiotics to start working, and, if this is viral, you may still be sick after completing the antibiotics. Every person's body heals at different rates but younger people often heal up faster.
Posted by TweetyBird
The antibiotics your doctor prescribed weren't for a cold or flu. These are caused by viruses and antibiotics don't work on viruses because they're (A) not living and (B) structurally vastly different from bacteria.
Posted by Larry R
Probably not.
The common cold and influenza are both viral diseases...and antibiotics don't work against viruses.
They might clean up any bacterial infections you have...or the doctor may just have given you them because that is what most patients expect him to do. Sometimes Doctors write a script just to make the patient shut up and go away happy. Patients get irate when they are told "Go home, get bed rest, drink plenty of fluids" from someone they are paying $ $ $ to see.
Are you sure it is antibiotics and not perhaps an anti-viral? There are anti-flu medicines out there...like tamiflu, but they are rarely given out in my experience.
Are you sure it is the cold/flu?
Hope you feel better soon.
Posted by LINDA R
If you do have the flu or a cold, you are being treated inappropriately. Cold and flu are viruses. Antibiotics only kill bacterial infections. They will do nothing for flu or a cold.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments! Cold and Flu Basics - Cold and Flu Center - Gocoldflu.info
How to recognize the symptoms of cold and flu, which treatments work best, and advice on staying healthy during cold and flu season
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