Antibiotic is one of the most widely used drugs in modern medicine. We are quite familiar with penicillin, cephalosporin, tylon and so on, which are different kinds of antibiotics. At the same time, antibiotic is also one of the most widely "abused" drugs at the present. Recently specialists attending an EU conference appealed that antibiotic should be prohibited unless the patient is in an extremely urgent condition.

What side effects will antibiotics bring to human body if they are frequently used? The major side effect of antibiotic abuse is the strengthened drug resistance of bacteria. Years ago, tetracycline, for example, was very effective for almost all kinds of human inflammations. But today, tetracycline has quietly retreated from the medical world, and is replaced by such drugs as cephalosporin, which has more effective pharmacological action. The replacement has indicated a progress achieved in the medical field, however, it also reflects the strengthened drug resistance of bacteria. When drug resistance against a certain drug is generated, the effects of the drug will be greatly reduced, and the bacteria will continue to grow. If antibiotics continue to be abused, bacteria will eventually produce drug resistance against all drugs. It is said that, during the 40 and 50s, penicillin was a good choice for all kinds of inflammations. But today, it is only a very ordinary antibiotic, with less effects than years ago.

The flora imbalance is another harmful result of long term antibiotic abuse. For example, actually there are several kinds of bacteria existing in human mouth, if one is killed by one type of antibiotic, the rest bacteria will grow more rapidly, producing new inflammation. Antibiotic abuse can also cause dissociation of bacteria. If the antibiotic cannot eliminate all the dissociated bacteria, the dissociated bacteria may generate a kind of drug resistance and bring new disease to the human body. The influenza took place in Asia last year was caused by a B type of a bacteria.

Antibiotic use in China is worrying. Many patients know little about medicine, and they assume that it is safer to use antibiotic. They think the more powerful the antibiotic is, the better the drug is. Another mistake is that the more expensive the drug is, the more effective it is. If antibiotic abuse continues like this, there would be no effective antibiotics for any infection. A tragedy taking place in Hong Kong can be a lesson for the antibiotic abusers to learn: not long ago, a female patient who was affected by vancomycin, a new type of bacterium, was said to have died of being short of effective antibiotics.

Don't use antibiotics unless it is terribly urgent!