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Antibiotics for viral infection
Last reviewed: 10.08.2022
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The main question to be answered by those who are interested in how to treat viral infection with antibiotics should in fact be formulated differently: do antibiotics help with viral infections?
Why is the treatment of viral infection with antibiotics ineffective?
Antibacterial drugs do not have a therapeutic effect in viral infections, because bacteria (that is, microbes) and viruses are different microorganisms. More precisely, viruses (influenza, chickenpox and smallpox, adenovirus Adenoviridae, enterovirus D68, HSV herpes virus, rabies virus Neuroryctes rabid, hepatitis virus Hepatitis viruses, human papillomavirus HPV, etc.) are generally not organisms, so they do not have cells and cellular walls and, accordingly, the cellular mechanisms inherent in living organisms, they are absent.
In bacteria that belong to the class of unicellular prokaryotic organisms, DNA and RNA are in the cytoplasm of the cell, and the cell has peptidoglycan walls and a cytoplasmic membrane. Viral RNA / DNA is enclosed within a virion - a particle that is not a cellular structure, but a protein and protein-lipid envelope (capsid) filled with filamentous nucleic acid molecules carrying their genetic information.
But most importantly, why antibiotics in viral infection do not help, is explained by microbiologists around the world by the nature of the multiplication of microbes and viruses. After all, the mechanism of action of antibacterial drugs - pharmacodynamics - is aimed at compromising the integrity of the bacterial cell membranes, after which the antibiotic binds to certain ribosome structures, as a result of which the metabolism in microbial cells is disrupted. The synthesis of proteins necessary for bacteria either slows down or irreversibly stops, and this stops the process of self-reproduction of microorganisms by simple mitosis.
The virus virion is different: it can not reproduce independently, it needs to invade the host cell (for this it has special enzymes) to make it reproduce its genome by replicating RNA and release new viruses that are based on the proteins of the human cell.
Why use antibiotics for a viral respiratory tract infection?
Knowing all this, doctors still prescribe antibiotics for a viral respiratory tract infection. Especially often - to avoid the development of pneumonia or pleurisy, as well as tonsillitis, laryngitis, nasopharyngitis, sinusitis or otitis - it is recommended to take antibiotics for a virus infection in children. This is due to the fears of doctors regarding the possible activation of nasopharynx pneumo-, strepto- and staphylococci on the mucous membranes of the background of ARVI.
Pediatric pediatric patients are prescribed antibiotics in cases of purulent sinusitis, tonsillitis or lymphadenitis, laryngotracheitis with purulent exudation and acute inflammation of the middle ear (otitis). More about what are the indications for the use of antibiotics for a viral infection - Antibiotics for colds
Although research has shown that non-targeted use of antibiotics not only suppresses nonspecific defense and synthesis of immune cells of the body, it also "has grown" a whole generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that resist any, even the strongest antibacterial drugs.
According to research conducted under the auspices of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pediatricians in the past 15 years have begun to prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection of the respiratory tract to six patients out of every ten, while 88-90% of the cases were caused by rhino or adenovirus.
Read also - Antibiotics for influenza
And about how to drink antibiotics for intestinal viral infection, in detail in the publication - Antibiotics for intestinal infection
Attention!
To simplify the perception of information, this instruction for use of the drug "Antibiotics for viral infection" translated and presented in a special form on the basis of the official instructions for medical use of the drug. Before use read the annotation that came directly to medicines.
Description provided for informational purposes and is not a guide to self-healing. The need for this drug, the purpose of the treatment regimen, methods and dose of the drug is determined solely by the attending physician. Self-medication is dangerous for your health.