So, I’ve got a cold. Boo fucking hoo, I know. But that’s not the point. One of my co-workers just said “Oh, you have a cold. Why don’t you go to the doctor and get some antibiotics?”
“Because colds are viral. Antibiotics won’t do anything.” I say.
“Yes they will! they always make me better!” she says.
“No it doesn’t. It’s just time that makes you better.”
“Whatever…” she says, like I’m the fucking idiot.
Jesus people! Get this through your thick fucking skulls! ANTIBIOTICS are for BACTERIA not VIRUSES. If they worked on viruses they would be called ANTIVIRALS! You shouldn’t take antibiotics unless you absolutely have to! When I’m dying of antibiotic resistant TB, I’ll have brainless twits like YOU to blame for it. And don’t think I won’t remember, because I will.
Why the hell do doctors prescribe these people antibiotics for the common cold, anyway?
vibro, my family would drive you absolutely bonkers in your present state, then. Not only do they think cold medicine cures the cold (as opposed to lessening the symptoms) they actually think one can catch a cold by not wearing a hat when it’s cold outside.
Well, sometimes an ear or sinus infection can develop.
(1) Barring tests, certain illnesses are bacterial in nature (as JuanitaTech noted). By the time tests are back, you’ll be over the worst of the symptoms, antiobiotics or not, so people will claim the antibiotics helped.
(2) Doctors want to keep customers happy. If Doctor A doesn’t give a person antibiotics, Doctor B will. Doctor A will lose a patient and any possible referral business. Nobody likes to lose business.
vibrotronica, you must be working with one of my ex-girlfriends. We had the exact same conversation. I then proceeded to present several articles stating the extent of the problem. Of course, I was still wrong, despite the lack of conflicting evidence.
Do you know the chief reason that Amoxicillin is prescribed in this country? To get the patient to leave your office happy. Or at least leave your office.
Working in a prison as I do now, There’s far less incentive for me to have satisfied customers. If I’m not pissing some of these guys off, I’m not practicing good medicine. So thanks to having a captive patient population (and a body alarm), I can now strive to practice even better medicine!
Can’t doctors just give 'em a prescription of Placebocillin or some such stuff? Or is it considered unethical to do so. Personally I think that doing that would be better all around.
I used to do front office for a doctor when I lived in Michigan. One thing I adored about him is he would not prescribe antibiotics without a clear cut need. If this cost him patients, then so be it.
I’ve had this discussion with people in the past, now I don’t say anything knowing that with certain people, there’s no point because nothing you say, no proof you provide will convince them that they aren’t right.
Like my boss. While she is on board with the antibiotic thing, she’s a nutcase just the same. I was wiping down the main phone with one of those isoprophyl (?sp) alcohol pad things after the receptionist went home sick. My boss claimed that wouldn’t do any good because alcohol wouldn’t kill germs.
Can’t doctors just give 'em a prescription of Placebocillin or some such stuff? Or is it considered unethical to do so. Personally I think that doing that would be better all around.
I am willing to go on the warpath and potentially create lifelong enemies by having fights with people about this issue, as my son was nearly killed by MRSA, aka antibiotic-resistant staph.
One of my friends told me that using antibiotic hand soap couldn’t possibly create resistant bacteria, because “it’s antibiotic! That means it kills them! So if they’re dead, how can they become resistant?!?”
(I don’t know whether antibiotic hand soap is actually a big problem compared to widespread overprescription of antibiotics for human viruses, but it was her total lack of understanding of how antibiotic products work that really bugged me. No pun intended.)
Man, I hate that people can’t understand why widespread antibiotics are a bad thing. And, in my experience, these are often the same people who are against the type of genetics work we HAVE to do to have any chance of having possible defenses down the line.
And might I add at this juncture…flu shots can’t cause the flu.
Actually MsWhatsit, from the research I’ve been reading it appears that microbes are becoming resistant to some of the agents employed in antibacterial hand soaps. As I use some of these same agents in the lab to keep pathogens from getting out of hand (sorry about the pun there) I find this kind of a bummer.
The antibiotic in hand, triclosan, soap was supposed to be non-targeted (like alcohol, which is a desiccant), however it turns out that it isn’t. It is indeed targeted (to the gene encoding an NADH-dependent trans-2-enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase), which can lead to resistance.
However, that said, I still recommend antibacterial hand soap for kitchens, especially for the food preparer.
In addition (although I probably shouldn’t admit this) I never get a flu shot. I am young, healthy, non-immunocompromised, and can easily muddle through a couple of days with the flu. However the CDC is still using attenuated strains, and although I am fully aware that it is psychosomatic, I still get a mild case of the flu. This does not in any way, shape, or form mean that I do not recommend the shots. It’s just means, that they are not for me (and I have carefully considered the risks).
Let them bring back palliative care for fucking tuberculosis because they won’t take antibiotics correctly! Let them resurrect a disease we damned well practically cured because they can’t be bothered to learn a single fucking fact in their pea-brained moldy-orange-peel-on-hot-asphalt so-called-existences on their drear little fuckwad planet! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
Maybe when they have to learn the big word santarium all the fuck OVER AND OVER AGAIN they’ll understand. No, they won’t. They’ll just blame it on the phyisicans. They’ll blame it on the NURSES WHO TRIED TO INFORM THEM! Fuck! DIE! DIE! DIE!
DIE! DIE! DIE! SMALLPOX IS DEAD AND SOON YOU WILL BE TOO, FUCKWICKET! AARGH!
Smallpox isn’t even fucking dead. THOSE MORONS WOULD BREED IN THEMSELVES FUCKING WEAPONS-GRADE SMALLPOX!
MORONS ARE TERRORIST-SUPPORTERS! THEY WEAPONIZE BENIGN (OR CONTROLLED) DISEASES!
GAAAH!
Shit…
I’m glad I’m not in the medical profession. I do know a few people who are, though.
According to the CDC, triclosan, which has gotten to be a common additive in all kinds of “anti-bacterial” products, can select for strains of bacteria that are cross-resistant to various different antibiotics. Derleth especially should appreciate the fact that it also selects for mycobacteria that are resistant to isoniazid, one of the main drugs used for tuberculosis.
Nevertheless, I refuse to buy hand soap, hand lotion, bath soap, dish liquid, cutting boards, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, cigarettes, toys, cat dishes, pillows, pillowcases, sheets, towels, socks, slippers, gloves, underwear, sponges, humidifiers, carpeting, high chairs, deodorants, shoes, kitchen knives, vacuum cleaner bags, mops, telephone mouthpieces, floor mats, ceiling tiles, toilet brushes or pacifiers that aren’t loaded with the stuff because, you know, germs are icky.
Doctors may wish to weigh in on my non-doctor post:
Some people with “colds” are prescribed antibiotics as a prophylactic to prevent opportunistic bacterial infections like strep throat, etc. because they may be especially vulnerable. People with heart murmurs for example.
There are a number of effective antiviral medications. I had the flu few years back and took what I think was Tamiflu (it may have been the competing drug). The improvement was dramatic. Rather than complete misery for 4 to 7 days, was was up and around at about 80% efficiency within 24 hours and completely over symptoms within 72 hours of taking the medication.
Who/why? would anybody even go to the doctor for a cold?
I’m never sick…so I can’t really relate. I do know that anti-bio’s are being abused severely.
I have an uncle who recently did battle w/ a Vancomycin resistant staph infection…BAD SHIT!
They had care flighted him to the best hospital, spent $$$$, specialists, etc. finally gave him up for dead.
Removed him from ICU and put him in a private room. His wife had to nurse him. No-one wanted near him. Doctor’s claimed they’d done all they could for him.
Man, I started doing my homework…found a new SUPER anti bio.
even stronger than Vancomycin, recently approved by the FDA, called the hospital and told my aunt & uncle…w/in a week his ass was home. Saw him the other day, driving around, out visiting folks.
This is the kind of shit antibio’s are for,
NOT FOR A GODDAMNED COLD!!!
If people would quit abusing them, we wouldn’t have to worry about dying from some bullshit that shouldn’t be a problem.
P.S. If you are a fucking anti-biotic junkie. Take them through the whole course. I can’t even begin to count the number of people I know who start feeling better and just decide, “that’s it, I’m well now.” and quit taking their script.
There are actually good reasons for some people, but I would bet money that the #1 reason is this: They need a doctor’s note to get paid sick leave from work. So their employer gives them a no-win choice: Waste the doctor’s time as well as their own with a pointless “sick” visit so they can stay home in bed and get better, or drag their sorry contagious carcasses into work and share the virus like a good co-worker should. :rolleyes:
And then you get the Pit threads about those “sharing” workers!
My husband works for the post office and has a coworker who seems to be coughing and hacking frequently, and she doesn’t even attempt to muffle it, cover her mouth, etc. (The people around her at work refer to her as a variant nickname on “Typhoid Mary”, since her name is similar to Mary.)
As JuanitaTech pointed out, sometimes sinus infections can develop. I’m very susceptible to those and to bronchitis, so when it comes down to the point where my “cold” had me coughing up yucky shades of phlegm, you bet I would stay home rather than share that experience with coworkers.
I also have antibacterial soap at home, but from what I’ve read lately on the subject (sorry, no cites), it seems like you need to scrub for 2 minutes to really get the antibacterial effect. So I might switch to regular hand soap once this supply runs out.
True, but they are an extremely small percentage of the cases. Merely having a heart murmur does not mean one requires antibiotic prophyllaxis for colds. Individuals with HIV or other immune disorders, or diseases like Cystic Fibrosis may be given antibiotics for concomitant viral illnesses, but it’s to suppress strains of bacteria which generally already have colonized the system.
BTW, strep is not opportunistic.
From the Merriam-Webster medical dictionary,
Opportunistic:
1 : of, relating to, or being a microorganism that is usually harmless but can become pathogenic when the host’s resistance to disease is impaired
2 : of, relating to, or being a disease caused by an opportunistic organism <Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and other op·por·tu·nist·ic infections that kill AIDS patients
