May 10, 2010

Mini-rant

In 1982, when antibiotics were less than 75 years old, I got appendicitis which led to peritonitis. Antibiotics saved my life. If I had been born even 50 years earlier, I probably would have died. This has led me to a grateful respect for the drugs.
I'm also of the mindset that very few common complaints require antibiotics. As such, my daughter has taken them I think only once in her 18 years. Too many people think that a common cold is a sinus infection and too many doctors hand out the pills at the first sniffle that we are diluting the potency of all antibiotics.
This is a miracle drug from which we have beaten the miracle. Antibiotics should never be seen as mundane. Their very name means they are killers. Treat them with the respect they deserve.

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