NOOOO!!! Do not take antibiotics unless you have an infection incurable by any other means. Doctors over-prescribe antibiotics. If you take them just cause you have a cold or the flu, all the bacteria that survived did so because they had mutations that made the antibiotics ineffective. These will then breed and spread throughout your entire body, making more and more antibiotic resistant bacteria. These then get into other people and make more and more and eventually that antibiotic is no longer effective at all. The best course is to tough it out, take nasal decongestant and get over you sickness normally, saving the antibiotics for the people that need them. Each time an antibiotic is rendered ineffective, an entirely new one must be formulated for the purpose of targeting the newly resistant bacteria, which is an incredibly expensive and contributes to high drug and medical care costs
That's not really the point here. If your doctor has prescribed them, take them all. Doctors and pharmacists are educated on antibiotic stewardship these days.
Viruses need to be taken care of immediately as they can become much worse. For example, the flu injects its DNA into the cell body and replicates inside your cells, and it attacks mostly the respiratory system. Because this occurs inside your cells, the B-cells, the most common WBC, cannot kill the virus. They throw up a flag that signals the body to produce T-cells that will target the infected cells. T-cells are like the tanks. They roll in and obliterate the infected cells before the virus can replicate. This is great because now the B-cells can kill the virus. The problem is that the cells that get destroyed leave behind fluid which builds up in the lungs and causes pneumonia. So for the 3-7 days that you didn't get treatment for the flu, your body has been fighting a losing battle and potentially infecting the people around you. Good job.
Both common cold and flu are viruses, and there's not a whole lot you can do about them. Antibiotics have no affect on viruses whatsoever. That's why there are flue shots, a weakened form of the current strain of the flu virus, which the macrophages can then wear the components of. When then brushing against other white blood cells, it teaches them "Here, this is what we've gotta look out for". Then if you are actually infected with a full-blown flu virus, your cells already know to kill that sucker and takes care of the problem before it exists. Antibiotics are useless in this situation and do more harm than good
The only times I've heard of doctors actually prescribing antibiotics for the flu or cold, is when a patient demands them and the doctor caves. Although that was years ago, and a competent doctor will never prescribe them unless actually needed.
For cold and flu, washing hands and covering a cough, and staying away from public places once you feel sick are best. People who go to work while sick make me hateful, but not as bad as companies who discourage or refuse sick time off.
Viruses can be super dangerous. Besides vaccines, there isn't really a treatment except to treat the symptoms and ride it out. Even cases that require hospitalization, the treatment is to stabalize you,(O2, intubation, fluids for dyhydration, NSAID's for pain and fever) until your body can fight off the infection.
You know, my previous comment about doctors over-prescribing antibiotics may have been a bit premature. I guess it's the ill-educated people that seem to think that antibiotics are the only way and demand them relentlessly that are the problem. Thank you for your wisdom, Snark-san
For cold and flu, washing hands and covering a cough, and staying away from public places once you feel sick are best. People who go to work while sick make me hateful, but not as bad as companies who discourage or refuse sick time off.
Viruses can be super dangerous. Besides vaccines, there isn't really a treatment except to treat the symptoms and ride it out. Even cases that require hospitalization, the treatment is to stabalize you,(O2, intubation, fluids for dyhydration, NSAID's for pain and fever) until your body can fight off the infection.