Why is the use of antibiotics without indications harmful?

The problem of unreasonable prescription of antibiotics is acute all over the world, in our country it is even more urgent, and against the background of the “treatment” of coronavirus infection with two, three, or even four antibiotics, this problem becomes threatening.

Immediately about the current situation: COVID 19 coronavirus infection with or without pneumonia CANNOT be treated with antibiotics! Antibiotics can only act on bacteria and some protozoa, but in principle they are not able to act on viruses. Why, then, were antibiotics used in the US and Europe in the spring? Because it was assumed that it would act, shall we say, with its “side effect” on this disease, this effect was not confirmed.

Antibiotics do not prevent bacterial complications! A bacterial infection can calmly develop after a “prophylactic course” of antibiotics. But sometimes antibiotics can be prescribed in a situation where the likelihood of developing a bacterial infection is very high, for example, in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Antibiotics are not harmless drugs, they can cause serious side effects, and it is one thing if they are used according to indications, for example, to treat bacterial pneumonia, that is, the benefits outweigh the risk of possible side effects. It is another matter when an antibiotic is prescribed to a patient on the basis of similar reasons that are not an indication for antibiotic therapy: “you have been ill for 5 days already”, “you have had a temperature for 3 days already”, etc. Thus, patients who do not benefit from the treatment can only get side effects, for example, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, tendon rupture, etc.

The problem of re-prescribing antibiotics is even more aggravated by the fact that in our country there is actually an over-the-counter sale of these drugs, that is, the patient prescribes treatment for himself, and also the pharmacist in the pharmacy will advise.

And the main thing in the whole problem of unreasonable use of antibiotics is the formation of antibiotic resistance. That is, the more we all take antibiotics, the more the bacteria mutate, and they become more resistant not only to a specific antibiotic, but often to a whole group of drugs.

Antibiotic resistance is not formed in a specific person, but in specific strains of bacteria that can greatly spread in the population. Already, mutated bacteria are known that no antibiotic can cope with. In the near future, we may face a problem that we will have nothing to treat, bacterial pneumonia, pyelonephritis, Helicobacter pylori and other bacterial infections. And of course, the total unreasonable prescription of several antibiotics to patients with coronavirus infection COVID 19 may lead to the fact that there will be a problem in the coming years.