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Antibiotics kill infectious cells, but viruses are non-living.
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∙ 12y ago
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What Are effective at treating strep throat but not at treating colds?
Antibiotics - because a cold is a virus caused disease and antibiotics have no effect on a virus. However strep throat is caused by a bacterium and antibiotics do kill bacteria.
Why don't doctors prescribe antibiotics if you have the flu?
antibiotics can be powerful.
Do you take antibiotics for mono?
NO! Mononucleosis is caused by a virus. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses and can increase bacterial antibiotic resistance when misused.
What is wrong with people taking antibiotics to help the flu?
Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections. The flu is a virus. Thus it has no effect against it.
Can antibiotics treat virus?
Antibiotics won't treat a virus.
Why cant you use antibiotics to kill virus but bacteria can be killed by antibiotics?
Because bacteria and viruses are two completely different things. Antibiotics - as their name implies - will kill bacteria, but antibiotics simply have no effect on viruses.
Why didn't hospitals prescribe antibiotics to sars patients?
SARS is caused by a virus. Antibiotics only help with bacterial infections and don't have any effect on viral infections.
Why don't you treat a virus with antibiotics?
antibiotics are only affective against bacteria, and a virus is different then bacteria
Which statement best describes why lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics while influenza cannot?
influenza is a virus and not bacteria, so antibiotics will have no effect. Lyme's disease is a bacteria so they do work
What is the effect of the decision to use antibiotics?
The effect of the decision to use antibiotics is that you will use antibiotics.
Why does doctors still prescribe antibiotics for a flu infection?
You cannot. Antibiotics are only for treating or preventing bacterial infections. Since the flu is caused by a virus, antibiotics have no effect and have been shown time and again to make no difference on the duration or severity of a viral infection (Influenza is a virus). There are antiviral medications but usually the best therapy is time.
Why are antibiotics useless against Ebola?
Ebola is a virus, which is not affected by antibiotics.
