alleryStart learning →Why is prescribing an antibiotic for a cold or the flu treated as misuse?
AThe dose needed would poison the patient
BAntibiotics are useless against these
CAntibiotics cure them far too quickly
DThe patient would become a chronic carrier
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Antibiotics are useless against these
1. An antibiotic is hostile to the growth of prokaryotes, and colds and flu are not prokaryotic illnesses.
2. Antibiotics are therefore useless in these patients.
3. Giving them anyway is named as a major misuse of antibiotics and feeds the resistance problem.
4. The drugs do not cure these illnesses at all, so speed of cure is not the issue.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 22 "Prokaryotes: Bacteria and Archaea", section 22.4 Bacterial Diseases in Humans_
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