Questions tagged [antibiotics]
A class of drugs used to treat bacterial infections. They function by inhibiting the growth of, or by killing bacteria.
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Why should I avoid milk when on antibiotics?
I'm taking antibiotics (specifically, amoxicillin clavulanate) to fight off an ear infection. As she prescribed my antibiotics, my doctor told me not to eat milk products for a few days, then only eat ...
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Why does my antibiotic make my urine yellow?
When I was given antibiotics for fever by my doctor, I noticed that my urine is unusually yellow. Why is that?
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Why should we finish antibiotic treatments in order to prevent antibiotics resistance?
I understand bacteria can mutate and develop resistance against antibiotics, but I do not understand how finishing an antibiotics treatment prevents this.
In my simple thought process, when an ...
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How does a MRSA test work?
Let's assume we have a patient with acute infection. The doctor suspects MRSA. A culture is taken, brought to the lab, and then what?
I'm interested to hear what are the usual steps a laboratory ...
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How far should I go to avoid antiboitics?
We know (or should know) that the overuse of antibiotics is causing a rise in "superbugs" that are resistant to them.
This means that we should avoid using them when we don't need to, for example, in ...
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How serious is the antibiotic resistance problem?
I found figures and numbers on CDC and WHO, while the general public may have little idea about those numbers, such as how many people "normally" die from such disease.
Can anyone provide some easy-...
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Effect of antibiotics on breastfed infant
My 9-month old son has been diagnosed with mild bronchiolitis and prescribed 5 days of Azithromycin (not so much to cure a virus-induced bronchiolitis, but in order to prevent possible pneumonia).
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Breakthrough bleeding and antibiotics
Can antibiotics cause breaktrough-bleeding? Should birth-control pills be stopped when taking antibiotics?
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No firm evidence for restoration of gut bacteria by probiotics?
I read two online articles on the use of probiotics to help maintain balance of gut bacteria when undergoing antibiotic treatment:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-to-eat-antibiotics
https://...
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Demodex control with antibiotics: why and how?
Wikipedia says:
Demodex folliculorum is a microscopic mite that can only survive on the skin of people. Most people have D. folliculorum on their skin. Usually, the mites do not cause any harm, ...
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When taking antibiotics, does every single germ have to die?
When I get sick and need to take antibiotics, I get admonished to carry the treatment until the end, otherwise I am breeding antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Does this mean that when I finish the ...
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What is the safety margin on duration of an antibiotics (levofloxacin) treatment?
Recently I was prescribed an antibiotics (levofloxacin) treatment of 500mg daily for 7 days. Being in Indonesia the doctors generally don't give any information and I took my first dose at exactly the ...
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Antibiotics only if fractured?
My 3 year old daughter got her pinky finger closed in the door last night. It broke the skin. We took her to urgent care and they did an x-ray. While waiting for the results, the tech said that if ...
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Does antibiotics weaken immune system or causes Fever [closed]
If your popping antibiotics everyday, prescribed by your doctor though he asked you to revisit after two months and warned you to ignore any fever symptoms during these two months.
I'm just wondering ...
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Why stomach ulcer need more than one antibiotic at the same time?
Almost all treatment recommendation for gastritis, duodenitis or peptic ulcer that has Helicobacter pylori, calls for 2 or 3 antibiotic at the same time, why is that ?
Why not use a single effective ...
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Do antibiotic-resistant bacteria present greater danger than related strains prior to development of antibiotics?
Are antibiotic-resistant bacteria more dangerous besides their resistance?
I am aware of the way things were before the first antibiotics: people died from infections often and diseases like syphilis ...
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Should mixtures of antibiotics become standard practice to curb antibiotic resistance?
Intuitively the standard practice of using only 1 antibiotic for a standard (non-resistant) infection poses the highest risk of developing resistance (because the bacterial population only has to beat ...
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Even topical tetracycline causes teeth discoloration?
I learned that tetracycline can cause tooth discoloratoin when taken orally. How about topical use as a creme? Can tetracycline also stain the tooth through skin absorption?
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If I take probiotics and antibiotics at the same time, which one wins?
Okay, I couldn't resist that title.
Seriously though, since antibiotics can cause indigestion, many physicians recommend taking them with food (see How much food is necessary to buffer the stomach ...
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Effect of milk on effectiveness of oral tetracycline
Tetracycline is known to be inhibited by calcium ions, and milk contains quite some calcium ions. What I want to ask is, to what extent does drinking milk affect the effectiveness of orally taken ...
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Is there solid evidence, that antibiotics cause allergies?
I have read, that the use of antibiotics could be part of the reason for the increase in allergies, we see today.
In alternative medicine circles, it is a common theme to reduce the use of ...
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Why can chronic prostatitis not be cured simply with antibiotics?
Acute bacterial prostatitis can be cured with antibiotics while chronic prostatitis cannot be cured by antibiotics.
Why is this the case?
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Do infected family members need to be treated with antibiotics at the same time?
When antibiotics become necessary I assume that the body can not kill the bacteria on its own and there are no useful anti bodies being built.
So in a case where the child is treated with antibiotics ...
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Why is erythromycin eye ointment required for newborns even if the mother doesn't have any STDs?
Erythromycin eye ointment is used on newborns shortly after birth to prevent chlamydial or gonorrheal infection in the baby's eyes.
In many states, this is required by law regardless of whether the ...
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Why do doxycycline pills also contain lactose?
Prescriptions in the UK contain doxycycline as doxycycline hyclate. They are also listed as containing lactose.
Why is the lactose helpful?
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Use of antibiotics with chest infections
I would like to have a confusing part of medicine cleared up. My experience of medical intervention is as follows.
As pointed out in the answer to Does taking antibiotics make you immune to virus? ...
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Can using moisturiser make acne worse? [closed]
Over the last few weeks, I've started breaking out with medium-to-severe acne, and in an attempt to clear it up in the short-term I've been using the T-Zone Skin Clearing Face Moisturiser. However, I'...
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Is it necessary to take antibiotics after medical/dental treatment? [closed]
Usually I don't take antibiotics when I take medicines according to a prescription.
Is it necessary to take antibiotics when I am bleeding in my body, for example, in my gum or teeth?
I thought I do ...
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Can acne bacteria become resistant to Clindamycin?
Clindamycinum is an antibiotic used to treat skin and vaginal infections. Can people use Clindamycinum for more than 60 days or will the bacteria become resistant to it?
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Is there any test to identify bacteria?
When I got some upper respiratory infection the doctor always prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics like amoxicillin. Is there any test to identify bacteria, and if so, why doesn't the doctor order ...
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Why are beta-lactam antibiotics the most common drug allergens?
β-Lactam antibiotics: the most common allergens among drugs.
Allergic reactions caused by β-lactam antibiotics bind to their
chemical structure. The source of haptens is an unstable β-lactam ring
to ...
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Physiologic basis behind increased survival with double coverage for community acquired pneumonia
Double coverage (generally cephalosporin + macrolide) is currently the recommended treatment for patients hospitalised with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) [1]. This seems mainly to be due to ...
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Single antibiotic dose for infection prevention in teeth surgery: Bad idea? [closed]
I was given a single dose of (I think) amoxicillin before teeth surgery to prevent infection. Appartently this is a common and accepted practice.
Doesn't this promote the development of antibiotic ...
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How to avoid general weakness when taking antibiotics [closed]
After taking antibiotics for a couple of days, I feel a general sense of weakness in my body. This includes physical weakness (tiredness, shortness of breath) and mental weakness (difficulty of ...
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What to do if someone mistakenly ingests food contraindicated by medication requirements?
In the past I have read a couple of times that one should not consume milk-based-products when taking certain medication for a certain amount of time before and after taking the product. To be a ...
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Why is Tobramycin prescribed for ear infections?
Tobramycin is ototoxic and in some individuals with genetic predisposition Tobramycin can apparently cause rapid permanent balance and hearing loss.
Yet, at least where I live, Tobramycin is ...
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Does taking antibiotics make you immune to virus?
Let's say someone has a virus and the doctor prescribed him to take him antibiotics, while taking the antibiotics can he be effected with another type of virus or the antibiotics will make him immune ...
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Why does overuse of antibiotics cause resistance?
The way I see it there are 2 cases:
1. The patient uses antibiotics and has an infection.
2. The patient does not have an infection and uses the antibiotics.
For case 1, this is a legitimate use. ...
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Does "gram negative" generally indicate highly antibiotics resistant bacteria strains?
I must admit that I am an absolute medical layman, trying to keep myself informed at best though.
Today I had a consultation at my dermatologist about a bad healing wound I have, to talk about the ...
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Do doxycycline and ciprofloxacin decrease each others effectiveness?
I was taking doxycycline for an infection of streptococcus spp. causing epididymitis. I was healing under this antibiotic, then the doctor added ciprofloxacin to my treatment, so I am taking 100 mg of ...
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Why bother prescribing oral antibiotics for acne, when C. acnes can't all be killed and will regrow?
After topical antibiotics and/or retinoid and/or benzoyl peroxide, dermatologists commonly prescribe oral antibiotics, but why?
Presume that the patient dutifully consumes the full prescribed course ...
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Do antibiotics contribute to bone healing?
Two weeks ago I broke my tibia in an accident. First I was taken to a hospital near the place where the accident happened, and the doctor gave me two options, either putting a plaster or inserting a ...
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Does treatment with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine eliminate reservoirs of Toxoplasma gondii?
Toxoplasma gondii is known to be one of many pathogens that sequesters away in nerve cells, as well as cysts in the muscles and liver, to avoid the immune system. Standard treatment for severe ...
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Is taking too much antibiotics in relation to antibiotics resistance a problem for the patient or population?
Imagine a patient who gets multiple treatments with antibiotics, and didn't really need them (bacterial infection, but would have gotten healthy without antibiotics). Is it the same patient who is at ...
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Streptococcus pyogenes mutation and recurrence
Does the bacteria that cause strep throat also mutates, just like the virus that cause flu?
In the same season, is it possible for a person to be infected multiple times (concurrently or not) by the ...
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Is the use of antibiotics justified for respiratory viral infections?
It is a widespread belief that antibiotics should not be used for treating viral infections, as they are effective against bacteria, not viruses (see e.g. http://www.cdc.gov/features/getsmart/). ...
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Administering Anti-biotics to elderly people
Is there anything wrong in administering antibiotics to a patient as old as 65, twice within 2 months? The patient had boil in the arm-pit the first time and was required to take the antibiotics, 4 ...
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How was penicillin discovered, and was the use of it immediately realised? [closed]
I am interested in exactly how penicillin was discovered, and did they realise what it does immediately?
I would also like to know how quickly it became a prescribed treatment, and which country ...
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Are antibiotics the only class of drugs whose effectiveness reduces over time?
The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance is well known: an antibiotic is effective when first introduced to the market, but over the years, its effectiveness decreases as resistant strains of bacteria ...
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Natural treatment of chronic prostatitis - Does herbal medicines have side affects?
I have had prostatitis for several years. Since almost all antibiotics were not helpful to me due to drug resistance, I am trying to find some natural treatment of chronic prostatitis, so I Googled ...