First you need to say that you should not self-medicate! Let professionals do it. Self-medicating, if you do not have a medical education, is like walking in pitch darkness with a match in your hand.

Now about antibiotics. Antibiotics are probably the most popular form of medicine, and the most commonly used in self-medication. Remember: In no case should you take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription! Taking antibiotics uncontrollably, you thereby unknowingly engage in the selection of bacteria – make the selection of the most resistant to this antibiotic specimens. For example, you are taking antibiotics when you have a viral disease or are not taking the full course of treatment. In this case, the most resistant bacteria remain and continue to multiply, thereby producing more and more representatives of the bacterial infection resistant to this antibiotic. In addition, you not only contribute to the reproduction of the bacteria that are most resistant to antibiotics in your body, but also contribute to the infection of these resistant bacteria around. As a result, we become defenseless against this infection. If a doctor prescribes a course of antibiotics, then this course must be completed completely in order to surely kill all the bacteria that caused the disease in the body.

Many try to treat the flu with antibiotics. This should not be done in any case! Influenza is a viral disease, i.e. viruses got into the body and caused an infectious disease. Antibiotics do not work on viruses! Therefore, taking antibiotics for influenza, you do not affect the course of the disease. In this case, the side effects of antibiotics on the body act. As a result, you get only cons. If you have a sore throat, then this is most likely a viral sore throat, and antibiotics will not help here either. Of course, you need to see a doctor. And if you have strep throat (a sore throat with a white coating, with a temperature above 38 degrees), then in this case you will be prescribed antibiotics. For viral diseases, antiviral drugs should be taken.

Alas, there is no cure for flu with proven effectiveness. In addition, there are many strains of influenza viruses, which makes it difficult to develop a universal anti-flu drug. As they say, in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections passes through 7 days, without treatment – passes in a week. Therefore, with flu, you can only relieve symptoms and prevent the development of complications.

There are only 4 cases when the doctor has the right to prescribe antibiotics to you outside the hospital (home):

1. Inflammation of the lungs. Not any pneumonia is treated in a hospital. As a rule, 90% are sent home for antibiotics for 1-2 weeks.
2. Urinary tract infection.
3. Sexually transmitted diseases.
4. Streptococcal angina.

Where do you think bacteria that are especially resistant to antibiotics live? And they live in hospitals. Patients are in intensive care, taking 3-6 of the most powerful antibiotics, and sometimes they do not help at all. Therefore, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary hospitalization. If there is an opportunity to be treated on an outpatient basis (at home), then one should not strive to lie in a hospital bed.

You also need to consider the compatibility of antibiotics with other drugs. Therefore, treatment should be prescribed only by a doctor!

In pharmacies, antibiotics are now only available on prescription. Although some pharmacies violate the law and still sell over-the-counter antibiotics. But the pharmaceutical inspection will monitor the implementation of this instruction and, if a violation is discovered, punish pharmacies.
Also, pharmacists should now offer the cheapest counterparts, and the consumer will choose what to buy.

An alternative to antibiotics is bacteriophages. These are viruses that infect bacteria. I think that the future lies in the treatment of bacterial diseases.