“Doc, why won’t you give me antibiotics?”

Ismawi, Hidayatul Radziah (2013) “Doc, why won’t you give me antibiotics?”. The Malaysian Medical Gazette.

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Abstract

You have a sore throat and your nose is running like a KL marathon. You drag yourself to your nearby GP and after seeing the doctor, you open the white plastic bag to find that the friendly doctor that attended to you forgot to give you any antibiotics. Or did he? Before you throw a tantrum and barge through his clinic demanding your magic cure for all illness, pause to reflect. There must be a reason that antibiotics were omitted from your treatment plan. Antibiotics are a type of medication that inhibit the growth or destroy microorganisms. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat infections both in hospitals and in the community. Doctors are required to perform a thorough clinical assessment (history, physical examination, relevant investigations) to ascertain the underlying disease process in each patient that presents to them. If the cause of the symptoms is an infection, the doctor will predict the pathogens (infective organism) associated with the infection and select the most suitable antibiotic that will target the likely organisms. Antibiotics are effective when used against bacterial infections, certain fungal infections and some types of parasitic infections. Antibiotics do not work against viruses. Antibiotics should not be prescribed when bacterial infections are unlikely, such as for common cold and most coughs because taking an antibiotic when you have a viral infection will not treat the underlying cause or relieve the symptoms; it will however contribute to antibiotic resistance. The consensus that antibiotic use or misuse is a major driving force for antibiotic resistance is now an established and recognized fact. Therefore all doctors and patients should be aware of several factors that should be considered before antibiotics are prescribed.

Item Type:	Article (Electronic Media)
Additional Information:	5472/83520
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Antibiotics
Subjects:	R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Medicine Kulliyyah of Medicine > Department of Basic Medical
Depositing User:	Dr Hidayatul Radziah Ismawi
Date Deposited:	09 Oct 2020 14:11
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2020 14:11
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/83520

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