The Doctor’s Role
A common intake is to employ these antibiotics where they are ineffective, for example, in viral infections, such as measles, chickenpox, and mumps. The vast majority of infections of the upper respiratory tract are not cured by antibiotics either. It is said that antibiotics are given to prevent secondary bacterial infections, but how far this is justified, is a subject of controversy. Another wrong application of these prescription drugs is in fevers of unknown origin. These fevers are usually due to viral or upper respiratory tract infections and these conditions do not generally respond to antibiotics. Fevers of long duration, such as in tuberculosis or involvement of the heart (subacute bacterial endocarditis.) requires specific drugs.
When a disease is associated with an appreciable quantity of pus, necrotic or dead tissues, and foreign bodies, an attempt to treat these conditions with antibiotics alone represents a misuse of antibiotics. The best and most effective treatment in such conditions is to use anti-microbial agents in adequate doses and provide surgical drainage for removal of the pus, dead tissues, or a foreign body. Thus it can be said that prescribing antibiotics indiscriminately or in inadequate doses, or administering inappropriate ones is a common cause of their ineffectiveness.
