Why do doctor prescribe medicine and not antibiotics when you have bad cold?

Answer 1

Colds are caused by viruses, antibiotics only treat bacteria or infections. Therefore, antibiotics cannot work on colds. You just have to let them run their course.

Over-use of antibiotics is fuelling the spread of killer hospital superbugs.

Answer 2

Because a cold is caused by a virus, not a bacteria. A bacterial infection you *cure* with antibiotics. A viral infection you simply treat the symptoms until the virus is killed off by the body.

Answer 3

Because antibiotics only work to treat bacteria. The common cold and flu are caused by viruses, so using an antibiotic for those or for other viral infections would be a waste and an unnecessary risk of side effects for no therapeutic advantage.

Antibiotics kill bacteria by poisoning them. Poisons do not affect viruses since they are non-living organisms; essentially a sack of proteins with DNA/RNA.

The only way to inactivate ("kill") the viruses so they can no longer cause symptoms of viral infection is to block their ability to enter and infect our living cells (that they need to replicate). The host animal's cells that are invaded by a particular virus (or plant cells) have specific shapes, and so do the virus particles that attach to them and enter. Our bodies create "objects" that fit the shape exactly to block attachment of the virus to the cell. These are called antibodies and fit into the spaces and bumps of the surface of the virus so the virus can no longer attach to the targeted hosts' cells. This is how our immune system deactivates the virions (virus particles) by disrupting their method of attachment. The immune response causes our bodies to match the shape and create antibodies that are shaped perfectly for that individual virus, blocking entry into the cell. We feel ill while the body is creating the perfect customized antibodies and start feeling better when the perfect shape is found (and we store these for the future, which is how immunization against viruses works).

Since we do not have the ability to artificially manufacture the huge numbers of shapes for all the known flu or cold viruses as they mutate rapidly into new forms, we still must rely on our body to block the viral attack without help from medicines.

For a living organism, like bacteria, there can be some resistance develop against a particular antibiotic over time in future generations, so it can be that the particular poison will begin to no longer kill that type of bacteria, however, this process takes much longer than it does for viruses. Therefore, there is usually time for drug manufacturing of new poisons that are again effective.

Answer 4

Because 'flu is viral and antibiotics only treat bacterial infections.

Answer 5

Antibiotics work by destroying the cell membrane around bacteria. Viruses do not have a cell membrane and are, therefore, ineffective against viruses.

Answer 6

Colds are caused by viruses, which cannot be eliminated via antibiotics. Only bacterial infections or diseases can generally be cured with antibiotics.

Answer 7

Antibiotics are only effective on bacteria. The flu is a virus which is unaffected by the antibiotics. An antiviral drug such as Tamiflu would help if taken early enough.

Answer 8

A cold is not caused by bacteria so antibiotics don't work on it. Antibiotics do not affect viruses like the cold or flu viruses.