Winter is often characterized by an outbreak of sickness. Most respiratory infections, however, are caused by viruses, which is why antibiotics won't help. Even more surprisingly, they are not entirely necessary even for some bacterial infections. When should we pursue patience instead of antibiotic medications? We asked Milan Trojánek, M.D., PhD. from the Department of Infectious Diseases at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague and Bulovka Hospital.
Antibiotic resistance, or the increasing resistance of bacteria to the effects of antibiotics, is a problem that is gaining momentum. Unless we change our behaviour towards antibiotics, their misuse and often overuse, antibiotic resistance in bacteria could be responsible for up to 10 million deaths a year by 2050.