WHY ANTIBIOTICS DON’T TREAT COLDS AND FLU

When you wake up with that trademark achy, feverish feeling, a blocked or runny nose, and sometimes fits of coughing, you probably have a cold or flu. Both are respiratory illnesses caused by any of several hundred different viruses, although a cold is milder. Viruses (which also cause illnesses such as chickenpox and Aids) require living hosts (people or animals) – they enter our body and invade some of our cells, where they reproduce. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses. Bacteria, on the other hand, are tiny single-celled organisms that live in many different types of environments. Some are “good” bacteria, making their home in people’s intestines to help digest food, for example. “Bad” bacteria cause illnesses such as tuberculosis and urinary tract infections. Antibiotics usually kill bacteria. Some ailments, including diarrhoea, pneumonia and meningitis, can be caused by either a virus or a bacterium.