Infections and sickness are just a part of life. At least some point in their life, all children will have contract an infection or illness that they need to go to the doctor for. The doctor might prescribe an antibiotic for your child. Although antibiotics are a great way to fight bacterial infections, there are some risks with taking them as well. Here are some things you need to know about your child taking antibiotics.
What Kind of Infections Will Antibiotics Fight?
Antibiotics should only be taken when there is a bacterial infection. This is because antibiotics are ineffective for treating a viral illness. Unfortunately, there is are very few medications you can take to treat viral infections. The body is generally able to fight viral infections on its own, and hopefully you have been vaccinated against dangerous viral infections. If you do contract a viral infection, you might just have to wait it out.
However, severe bacterial infections will generally have a hard time healing on their own, you might need to intervene with antibiotics if it gets bad enough. This is why you will only get an antibiotic if the infection is bacterial in nature.
Are There Any Negative Effects from Taking Antibiotics?
There can be negative long-term effects from taking antibiotics. For example, each time you take an antibiotic it makes you more resistant to them in the future. Antibiotic resistance can be very dangerous for some people. Say you took an antibiotic for a simple cold and ear infection, that your body could have fought off on it's own. During this time your body built up a resistance, then years later you got a very severe staff infection. You would need to take antibiotics, but your body is no longer responding to the antibiotics and you are unable to fight the staff infection.
What Side Effects Are There to Taking Antibiotics?
If you are taking antibiotics you should be aware that there are a couple negative side effects, one of the most common being an upset stomach. Antibiotics kill the healthy bacteria in your stomach. This means that you could easily get diarrhea that lasts for the time that you take the antibiotics, and even continue on after the medication is complete. This is why it is important that you take probiotics, or eat lots of acidophilus while you take antibiotics. This will help to keep the healthy bacteria in your stomach. These are just a couple things you need to know about taking antibiotics. For more information, contact a primary care physician like Monticello Clinic.
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