If you’re suffering from a cold, the flu, or another virus, there are things you can do to help relieve the symptoms, but taking antibiotics will not help. Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, such as strep throat.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health problem that is primarily being caused by the repeated and improper use of antibiotics.

You can help prevent antibiotic resistance by taking these actions:

  • Don’t take antibiotics for viral infections, such as colds or the flu.
  • If you are prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection, take the full course of treatment even if you begin to feel better after a few days.
  • If you need to stop taking a course of antibiotics for some reason, discard leftover medication—do not save it for a future illness.
  • Do not take antibiotics prescribed for someone else.
  • If your healthcare provider determines that you do not have a bacterial infection, ask about ways to relieve your symptoms. Don’t pressure your provider to prescribe antibiotics.

Related posts:

  1. Medicare NIH funds four clinical trials to fight antimicrobial resistance The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced four new contracts for large-scale clinical trials that address the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Over the next five to six years, these new clinical trials will evaluate treatment alternatives for diseases for which antibiotics are prescribed most […]...
  2. Medicare Card, Prevent Errors With Your Pet’s Medicine Medicare Card, Prevent Errors With Your Pet's Medicine...
  3. Medicare, Novel Therapeutic Approach, Shows Promise Against Multiple Bacterial Pathogens A team of scientists from government, academia and private industry has developed a novel treatment that protects mice from infection with the bacterium that causes tularemia, a highly infectious disease of rodents, sometimes transmitted to people, and also known as rabbit fever. In additional experiments with human immune cells, the treatment also demonstrated protection against […]...
  4. Contaminated Tattoo Inks Can Cause Dangerous Infections Tattoo inks and the pigments used to color them can become contaminated by bacteria, mold, and fungi. In the last year, inks contaminated with a family of bacteria called nontuberculous mycobacteria have caused serious infections in at least four states. Some bacteria in this family can cause lung disease, joint infection, eye problems, and other […]...
  5. MedicareCard.com – NIH Podcast Shines Light on Prescription Drug Abuse in Women NIH Podcast...
  6. Medicare Card, Lung Cancer and How to Reduce Your Risk Medicare Card, Lung Cancer and How to Reduce Your Risk...
  7. Medicare Card, Text Message Support to Help You Quit Smoking Medicare Card, Text Message Support to Help You Quit Smoking...
  8. Autoinjectors offer way to treat prolonged seizures Drug delivery into muscle using an autoinjector, akin to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions, is faster and may be a more effective way to stop status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes, according to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health....
  9. Medicare Card, What are the symptoms of colon cancer? Medicare Card, What are the symptoms of colon cancer? ...
  10. Medicare Card, Do You Know the Difference Between Headaches and Migraines? Medicare Card, Do You Know the Difference Between Headaches and Migraines?...
  11. Medicare Card, Outbreaks of Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Small Turtles Medicare Card, Outbreaks of Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Small Turtles...
  12. HHS Awards $17 Million in a New National Initiative to Fight Health Care-Associated Infections October 23, 2009 HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the award of $17 million to fund projects to fight costly and dangerous health care-associated infections, or HAIs. “When patients go to the hospital, they expect to get better, not worse,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Eliminating infections is critical to making care safer for patients and to […]...
  13. Medicare Card, Bacterial protein in house dust spurs asthma according to NIH study Medicare Card, Bacterial protein in house dust spurs asthma according to NIH study...
  14. Medicare Card, NIH investigators discover new gene that affects clearance of hepatitis C virus Medicare Card, NIH investigators discover new gene that affects clearance of hepatitis C virus...
  15. Adding Psychotherapy to Medication Treatment Improves Outcomes in Pediatric OCD Youth with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) who are already taking antidepressant medication benefit by adding a type of psychotherapy called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), according to an NIMH-funded study published September 21, 2011, in the Journal of the American Medical Association....