Antibiotic confusion.

[warbler]

Hi, hope your all doing ok.

I read recently the bulk of chest infections are caused by virus's and not bacteria, how do they know the difference ? and wouldn't antibiotics be pointless against a viral chest infection ?

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Most suffers feel ill most days i assume thats viruses

Virurs kill people influena is virus and kills thousands every year in uk

My understanding is when you have compromised immunity viruses easly turn bacterial

When doctors say the dont the talking threw the ass to be blunt

Suffers also suffer antibiotic resistance.

A few gp doc's should try living with compromised immunty viruses and lung disease

[O2Trees]

If you are coughing up green mucus from the lungs then that is almost certain to be bacterial warbler. One way to tell is to take a sputum sample to the GPs and get it sent off to the lab. When the report comes back it will say what bacterium is causing the infection and then the GP can give you the appropriate antibiotic.

I keep a spare sputum pot at home so i can do this at the first sign of a bacterial infection. I phone the surgery and ask for the GP to write out the form which goes with the sample, and usually you need to get the sample to the surgery before midday when they all get sent off (obviously different for different surgeries).

This all saves time.

Most people have bacteria in their lungs which their immune systems cope with and they are pretty harmless. The difference with us copd (or other lung condition) folk is that our constitutions and immunity are compromised so when you get a viral infection it is likely to trigger these bacteria to become a full-blown bacterial infection. This is of course a lay person's explanation

[warbler in reply to O2Trees]

Thank you, so this is the reason I was given antibiotics last month when I had a mild viral infection ?

[warbler in reply to warbler]

Despite having no sputum production or cough ?

[O2Trees in reply to warbler]

Could they have been given to you for prophilactic reasons? That's happens sometimes. As you say, ABs don't work on viruses, but viruses can turn bacterial so perhaps your GP was trying to avoid that happening.

[warbler in reply to O2Trees]

Thank you, I never knew that could happen.

[O2Trees in reply to warbler]

It would be good if you could ask your doctor to explain why s/he is prescribing something to you, warbler. Its your body and you have a right to know and need a trusting relationship with your GP. If that doesn't seem possible, then maybe you need to change GPs.

[warbler in reply to O2Trees]

Sorry, I meant I didn't realise a viral infection could turn bacterial.

[O2Trees]

Well i don't know exactly how it happens but many of us start by having viral infections and desperately hope it won't "go down", i.e. to the chest, but it often does and at that point we are coughing up green gunk and its seen as a bacterial infection needing antibiotics. I don't know the mechanism of how exactly this transition works. I think that once an infection does go down to the lungs, it is warm and wet down there and a perfect environment for bacteria to go crazy. But you are stretching my knowledge which is very non-medical

[warbler]

Haha, thanks again O2trees, you explained it well.