Treating Colds With Antibiotics Is Unsafe

Jan. 13 - KGO (KGO) -- These days, nobody has time to be sick. But before you ask your doctor for an antibiotic, make sure you're not harming yourself. Often doctors will give you antibiotics inappropriately.

Roni Harders is sneezy, achy, and feels just plain rotten.

Roni Harders, cold sufferer: "I was the type of person that wanted an antibiotic prescribed for any of those symptoms, especially during those first few days cause nobody wants to be sick."

It happens to all of us. You get a cold, you feel crummy, you go to the doctor's office expecting a prescription's going to make us feel better. That puts doctors in a terrible position because colds should not be treated with antibiotics. They are viral infections, and antibiotics only treat bacteria - things like bacterial pneumonia. Yet, many doctors just give in and write the antibiotic prescription.

But colds should not be treated with antibiotics. They are viral infections, and antibiotics treat bacterial infections, like pneumonia.

Steven Goldberg, M.D., ER physician, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield: "But doctors write for antibiotics over 40 percent of the time when someone comes to them with a cold."

This trend of prescribing antibiotics for colds is unsafe for several reasons.

Dr. Goldberg: "The first is resistance. If you take antibiotics when you don't need them, you make it more likely that you're going to get a serious bacterial infection. The second reason is side-effects. "

Even properly prescribed antibiotics can cause resistant bacteria to grow inside you and increase your odds that any infection will be hard or even impossible to beat. Instead of antibiotics, Dr. Goldberg recommends patients stick with old-fashioned over-the-counter meds for colds.

Dr. Goldberg: "For body aches or low-grade fever, acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be helpful."

But Dr. Goldberg's top tip doesn't come in a bottle.

Dr. Goldberg: "For most people who have a cold, a tincture of time is the best thing."

New studies find antibiotics should not be given for most cases of bronchitis and even children's ear infections.

To learn more about the use of antibiotics, click here.

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