The nose is running, the head is buzzing, it is feverish: with these symptoms, some still swallow antibiotics, although they are seldom used. Because this "hammer" only helps against bacteria – but the typical flu infection is triggered by viruses. In the best case, the effect is therefore zero, in the worst you promote resistance to this important medical weapon. Why this is so and how it affects, explains hygiene specialist Dr. med. Interview with Oskar Janata from Wiener SMZ Ost: WOMAN: What exactly is resistance?
JANATA: The drug is dosed in a certain, reasonable concentration. It's supposed to fight the bacterium, but not harm humans. If the patient's permitted concentration no longer works, it is called resistance. WOMAN: Why does this arise?
JANATA: First, by taking antibiotics. Every time I take one, a germ living inside me comes in contact with it. At some point he learns to tolerate that. If he does have problems, the usual recipes no longer work. The second possibility is the spontaneous mutation. A pathogen becomes resistant through a groundless change in the genome. He gets an edge over other germs and can spread. This usually happens in hospitals with poor hygiene standards or in areas where there is little or no antibiotics, in Iraq or in the desert. The third generation occurs in agriculture. WOMAN: How can that be?
JANATA: Massive use of antibiotics in livestock. There, the drug is given in large quantities in the water or food, the animals take it, a germ is resistant. If, for example, a chicken is left behind in your kitchen, it can pass to you. Because the chicken is heated, but not the adjacent salad. From there, the germs then migrate into your intestine. As long as you are healthy, that is not a problem. But when you get sick, get an appendix infection, an inflammation of the bile ducts, or even a very common bladder infection, conventional drugs stop working. »Many resistances result from the massive use of antibiotics in livestock. They will then pass to us. " WOMAN: What can I do about it?
JANATA: You're carrying an ally, that's your microbiome. The germs that live in our intestines anyway, recognize the resistant quickly and can usually fight well, they are excreted again, without anything happening. In the event of illness, our hospitals are, thank God, well equipped and have special resources in reserve. Normally, there is always another antibiotic against which the germ is not resistant. WOMAN: But how can it be that people die from hospital germs?
JANATA: The old and sick are dying. And it's difficult to tell if someone is dying because of or with a resistant germ. WOMAN: Anyway, you should take antibiotics as rarely as possible.
JANATA: For the usual infectious diseases in any case. Take nasal spray, cough syrup, in children also to antipyretic agents. And wait. If you do not get better after two or three days, or you suddenly experience pain such as a prick or chills, go to the doctor. Behind this is often a bacterial complication. Taking the then prescribed antibiotic should be short, but fierce. Three days, but twice the dose. WOMAN: In the leaflets there is usually a much longer intake?
JANATA: Yes, an old relic. The problem is that antibiotics are a bad business. They cost a lot in development and do little. In the leaflets there is still a long period of use. Due to legal regulations, however, a new package text is practically a new approval. That costs a lot of money. The pharmaceutical company earns but at the usual funds per patient and day 1.50 euros, a maximum of 2 euros. It does not pay for that. Is there then a new, very effective means, say hygienists: Wait, we do not use that. We save ourselves when there are problems. WOMAN: Can a prophylactic intake also make sense?
JANATA: Only in certain cases. With chemotherapy or severe pre-existing conditions, bites, accidents or open-wound surgery. But otherwise that would be a crazy thing.