Question

This is a Microbiology essay question. Please provide detailed answers.

Taking antibiotics for viral infections is not effective.

a. Explain why taking antibiotics will not stop a viral infection.
b. In addition to not clearing the infection, how can this be harmful for a patient in the immediate future?
c. Explain how, with the inadvertent help of the patient’s microbiome, repeated unnecessary antibiotic use can result in antibiotic resistant infections.

Answer 1

a) Antibiotics are drugs which has ability to kill bacteria and helps in eradication of infection due to bacteria. Antibiotics has no effevt on viruses due to mechanism of their action, antibiotics target particular part of bacteria or halt some mechanism which is crucial for bacteria. And as viruses structure and functionality differ from bacteria they can't be effective for them.

b) Adding antibiotics for a viral infection in treatment drugs will have adverse effect on microbiota of host. Our body contain different bacteria which live within us and help us carry out important process. Antibiotics act on these bacteria and eliminate them which affect microbiota hence functionality of host .

c) If antibiotics are taken unnecessary repetitively. It cause development of resistance in bacteria not only which infect us but also those present in microbiota of body. There resistance to antibiotics can be dangerous for host. At time of compromised immune system bacteria from microbiota can contribute to opportunistic pathogens which will be resistant to antibiotics. Hence no treatment at present.

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