Cough, sneeze, go to doctor, get prescription medication for an antibiotic. What’s wrong with this scenario? It depends on what kind of germ is making you sick. Bacterial and viral infections can cause similar symptoms, but they are vastly different when it comes to the way they respond to medications.
Bacterial infections require antibiotics. Unfortunately, bacteria are very adaptable, so overuse of antibiotics has made a number of drug-resistant germs. This is why antibiotics should only be used if there is clear evidence of a bacterial infection.
Viruses are not impacted by antibiotic drugs. Taking an antibiotic for a viral infection is more than useless, it’s harmful in two ways. First the antibiotic will still attack bacteria in your body, but that bacteria may be beneficial. Second and more importantly, this misuse of medication promotes antibiotic resistance. This means that when people are sick with bacterial infections, the antibiotics that used to treat these illnesses will become less effective or not work at all.