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Antibiotics kill bacteria or stop them multiplying by attacking parts that viruses do not have, such as the bacterial cell wall. Colds and flu are caused by viruses, so antibiotics cannot treat them.

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Viruses are far smaller than bacteria and have no cell wall or machinery of their own; they multiply inside our cells, using the cells' own machinery, so antibiotics have nothing to hit. Flu does have antiviral medicines, but they are a different kind of drug. Taking antibiotics that are not needed still has costs: side effects such as diarrhoea and allergic reactions, and more chances for bacteria to evolve resistance. Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin in 1928, warned in 1945 that misusing it could breed resistant microbes. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is now estimated to have directly caused 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019. Sometimes a cold or flu is followed by a bacterial infection, such as pneumonia, and then a doctor may prescribe an antibiotic.

Türkçe oku
Antibiyotikler, bakterilerin virüslerde bulunmayan yapılarına, örneğin hücre duvarına saldırır; böylece bakterileri öldürür ya da çoğalmalarını durdurur. Soğuk algınlığına ve gribe ise virüsler yol açar; bu yüzden antibiyotikler bunları tedavi edemez.

Virüsler bakterilerden çok daha küçüktür; hücre duvarları yoktur, çoğalmak için gereken düzenekler de kendilerine ait değildir. Hücrelerimizin içine girip onların düzeneklerini kullanarak çoğalırlar; bu yüzden antibiyotiklerin vurabileceği bir hedef yoktur. Grip için antiviral ilaçlar vardır, ama bunlar bambaşka bir ilaç türüdür. Gereksiz yere antibiyotik kullanmanın da bedeli vardır: İshal ve alerjik tepkiler gibi yan etkiler görülebilir, bakterilerin direnç kazanma fırsatı da artar. Penisilini 1928'de bulan Alexander Fleming, daha 1945'te ilacın yanlış kullanılırsa dirençli mikropların türeyebileceği konusunda uyarmıştı. Antibiyotiğe dirençli bakterilerin 2019'da dünyada 1,27 milyon kişinin ölümüne doğrudan yol açtığı tahmin ediliyor. Soğuk algınlığı ya da gribin ardından bazen zatürre gibi bakteriyel bir enfeksiyon gelişebilir; o zaman hekim antibiyotik yazabilir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Antibiotic
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