Can you take metronidazole for strep throat?

Answer 1

No, Metronidazole is an antifungal and should not be used for colds. Try chicken soup, tea with honey and lemon and fresh orange juice. Colds are caused by viruses, so they can't be cured with antibiotics or antifungals.

Answer 2

No, it would have no effect for either condition. Metronidazole (aka Flagyl) is used as an antibiotic, amebicide, and antiprotozoal. It is most effective in treating anaerobic bacteria, specifically. Anaerobic means they live where there is little or no oxygen. These types of bacteria are less common and make up only about 10% of all the total types of bacteria. The most common reason for a sore throat is not a bacterial infection or parastie, it is usually caused by a viral infection, like sore throats due to the common cold viruses and sore throats from the flu viruses.

Therefore, for the most common sore throats, which are most often viral, metronidazole would not be effective.

Sometimes sore throats are caused by bacteria, such as streptococcus ("strep throat"). Antibiotics are effective for this type of sore throat but, again, not metronidazole specifically, since streptococcus is an aerobic bacterium. Therefore, neither flu nor other viral or bacterial infections that typically cause sore throats are treated with metronidazole. See the related question below for more information about how to get rid of a sore throat.

Metronidazole is sometimes used for and effective in treatment of the skin condition, rosacea. For this use it is usually in a gel form instead of the also available oral and IV preparations. One of the brands of gel metronidazole for treatment of rosacea is MetroGel. Some studies indicate that a bacterium is responsible for the condition of rosacea, but others have other results and hypotheses. The jury is still out on what causes rosacea. But, if it were a bacterial cause, that could be the only use of metronidazole for aerobic bactericide.

Specific organisms for which metronidazole treatment is used:

Parasites:

• Giardia lamblia and ameba are intestinal parasites that are treated with Flagyl.

Anaerobic bacteria:

• The anaerobic gram-negative bacilli, are also treated this way, such as the Bacteroides species - including the Bacteroides fragilis group (B. fragilis, B.distasonis, B. ovatus, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. vulgatus) and the Fusobacterium species

• Anaerobic gram-positive bacilli, including Clostridium species ("C-diff"/Clostridium difficile)
• Susceptible strains of Eubacterium Anaerobic gram-positive cocci, including - Peptococcus Niger and Peptostreptococcus species

Answer 3

Metronidazole is useless for strep throat.