There have been many valid points made about the use and R&D of antibiotics. One thing that I have yet to see is that antibiotics must be used properly in order to work effectively and erradiate bacterial infection. Many times, patients do not follow the instructions listed on their prescription (ie. take twice a day, 12 hours apart until the medication is finished). Non-compliance with instructions (improper dosage or simply not finishing the presciption) is a huge contributor to antibiotic resistance. Case in point, tuberculosis. Think of it this way...
The human body is a veritable petri dish, perfectly incubated and full of nutrients. Most antibiotic courses are prescribed in a dosage that will kill the majority of infections of that type, plus a little for safety's sake. If the course of antibiotics is stopped or if the medication is taken over too lengthy a period of time in too small a dosage, then the bacteria take advantage of the wonderful petri dish that is your body. Because they have had an innoculation of antibiotic (just like we give viral innoculations to prevent disease) their tiny cells evolve and can survive the next antibiotic onslaught, keeping the bacteria able to reproduce and people more ill than before.
You may counter and ask why don't we give everyone wide spectrum or cocktails of antibiotic treatments on a regular basis since they are normally more effective against the treatment of bacterial infection? It goes right back to people not following their course of treatment. If medical professionals begin to prescribe these more hard-hitting treatments as a matter of course, then those treatments will quickly become obsolete for the same reason as mentioned above. This is of course ignoring the effect of very strong antibiotics on the helpful bacteria living in our systems which assist said systems in functioning.
Moral of the story: Do like you did in Kindergarten and follow directions (even if you start to feel better after the first day or two of treatment).
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The human body is a veritable petri dish, perfectly incubated and full of nutrients. Most antibiotic courses are prescribed in a dosage that will kill the majority of infections of that type, plus a little for safety's sake. If the course of antibiotics is stopped or if the medication is taken over too lengthy a period of time in too small a dosage, then the bacteria take advantage of the wonderful petri dish that is your body. Because they have had an innoculation of antibiotic (just like we give viral innoculations to prevent disease) their tiny cells evolve and can survive the next antibiotic onslaught, keeping the bacteria able to reproduce and people more ill than before.
You may counter and ask why don't we give everyone wide spectrum or cocktails of antibiotic treatments on a regular basis since they are normally more effective against the treatment of bacterial infection? It goes right back to people not following their course of treatment. If medical professionals begin to prescribe these more hard-hitting treatments as a matter of course, then those treatments will quickly become obsolete for the same reason as mentioned above. This is of course ignoring the effect of very strong antibiotics on the helpful bacteria living in our systems which assist said systems in functioning.
Moral of the story: Do like you did in Kindergarten and follow directions (even if you start to feel better after the first day or two of treatment).