New Study Sheds Light on Reactions to Antibiotics

The story I just read on abcnews.com starts out this way:

Bad reactions to antibiotics, mostly allergic ones, send people to U.S. emergency rooms more than 140,000 times each year, government researchers reported on Wednesday. The findings offer another reason for doctors to limit their use of the drugs, which are overused in the United States, the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. "This number is an important reminder for physicians and patients that antibiotics can have serious side effects and should only be taken when necessary," said the CDC's Dr. Daniel Budnitz, who led the study.

140,000 emergency room visits! Those are just the ones that are reported. Two super popular antibiotics, penicillin and amoxicillin, accounted for HALF the reactions. The study says that 78% of the visits were due to allergic reactions, and the remaining 22% were caused by errors.
An estimated 100 million antibiotic prescriptions are written every year. A lot of studies say that more than half of those prescriptions are unnecessary. I take it a step further, I say they are unnecessary AND harmful. Most times, antibiotics are prescribed for viruses. Antibiotics are absolutely useless for viruses. They are intended for bacterial infections, not viral. In regards to this, the following quote from the article really stood out:

...doctors still often believe their patients are exceptions to the rule and continue to write the prescriptions.

Although antibiotics are common, they are not safe. Every drug has side effects, you just don't know how they may affect you...and often times, until it's too late. Don't be another statistic. Only take medications when it is absolutely necessary, for emergency purposes. Give your body and chance to heal. God designed your body to heal. Give it a chance.

To read the whole story, check out the link below:

Study Finds 140,000 Bad Reactions to Antibiotics