Your questions answered
Q What illnesses can antibiotics treat?
A They’re very effective at zapping bacterial infections, including ones affecting the throat, skin or lungs. Your doctor will prescribe them if they think you have a condition that’s unlikely to clear up without antibiotics, if you risk infecting others unless treated, or if you may be at risk of more serious complications without them. They work by killing bacteria or preventing them from reproducing and spreading. People at a high risk of infection may also be given antibiotics as a precaution, especially after surgery. But many bugs can also be cleared by your immune system without using antibiotics. It’s for this reason doctors may be cautious about giving them to you.
Q Do they always work?
A They aren’t effective against any viral infections, such as the common cold, flu, most coughs and sore throats. ‘In the vast majority of cases there’s absolutely no need to use antibiotics – and every reason to avoid them,’ says GP Paul Stillman. ‘But it’s not that long ago that antibiotics were routinely prescribed for sore throats, and there are still far too many patients who demand them.’ The Department of Health has a five-year strategy to try to reduce antibiotic resistance through overprescribing. In 2015 there were two million fewer prescriptions written for antibiotics. ‘That sounds like a lot, but it was only a cut of 7.9%,’ says GP Gill Jenkins.
Q What’s the difference between bacteria and viruses?
A ‘They actually have very little in common,’ explains ear, nose and throat surgeon Alasdair Mace. BACTERIA ‘They are single-celled life forms and, unlike viruses, can reproduce on their own. They can survive outside the body, on bed sheets, for example. They’re mostly harmless, though; less than 1% of bacteria lead to disease in humans. Plus they can be beneficial, like so-called gut-friendly bacteria.’ VIRUSES ‘Smaller than bacteria, they have a different outer membrane that antibiotics can’t break through. They need a living host as they ‘hide’ in human or animal cells. The virus hijacks part of your immune system and tricks it into making new viruses, spreading it further. And they can turn normal cells into malignant or cancerous ones.’
Q What about superbugs?
A Superbugs are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different antibiotics. Perhaps the bestknown is the MRSA superbug, which killed more than 2,000 people a year during the mid-2000s. Another more recent example is ‘super gonorrhoea’ – a strain of the STI that has evolved so it’s resistant to antibiotics that previously worked. The World Health Organisation says that as the bug lives in the back of the throat, both oral sex and a drop in the use of condoms are causing it to spread worldwide.
QH as advice about how long to take them for changed?
A In most cases when you’re given antibiotics, your doctor will tell you to finish the course, or you could put yourself at risk from reinfection. But in July, Professor Martin Llewelyn at Brighton and Sussex Medical School cast doubt on the value of this advice, saying taking the drugs for longer than necessary is in fact putting patients at risk from antibiotic resistance and superbugs. But, as this isn’t part of current NHS guidelines, you shouldn’t just stop taking them because you feel well – always check with your doctor.