Cough: avoid antibiotics

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Extract from the article: Coughing is a protective mechanism designed to expel mucus, germs and irritants from the respiratory tract. After a cold or flu, it's also normal for mucus production to cause a «deep» cough. Chest pain when coughing is normal, since coughing involve

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Coughing is a protective mechanism designed to expel mucus, germs and irritants from the respiratory tract. After a cold or flu, it's also normal for mucus production to cause a «deep» cough. Chest pain when coughing is normal, since coughing involves the whole chest (bones and muscles). In most cases, the cough disappears spontaneously after a few days. Antibiotic treatment is useless in most cases, and can even be harmful. Here's why: «Antibiotics are generally of no use against acute coughs. They don't make it go away any faster. The most common lower respiratory tract infections are caused by viruses on which antibiotics have no effect. Respiratory infections caused by bacteria generally disappear quickly. Research has shown that antibiotics can barely reduce the duration of illness by a day or so, for a total duration of 3 to 4 weeks», explains Dr. Jean-Claude Bakpatina, General Practitioner at the Floréal Clinic (Lomé).

Antibiotics are only indicated if symptoms do not disappear after a few weeks, or if they worsen, he stresses. They can also be useful for less common causes of cough, such as pneumonia and specific bacterial infections.

On the other hand, «antibiotics can be harmful.The indiscriminate administration of antibiotics provokes a bacterial resistance mechanism: over time, bacteria develop defenses against these drugs, making them less effective, both on a personal level and on a population scale.Taking antibiotics reduces natural resistance to infection», says Dr. Jean-Claude Bakpatina, General Practitioner. Antibiotics can have unpleasant side effects, including diarrhea, rash, malaise and, in rare cases, more serious effects such as loss of consciousness.

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