• Question: How do antibiotics help cure chest infections

    Asked by ells8 to clairemarieroberts, Faye, Martin, Mus, Pete on 23 Apr 2012.
    • Photo: Pete Etchells

      Pete Etchells answered on 23 Apr 2012:

      There are two main types of chest infection, which are called pneumonia and bronchitis. Bronchitis is usually caused by a virus – which means that antibiotics won’t do anything at all, as antibiotics only work against bacterial infections. In fact, taking antibiotics for bronchitis is quite bad, as it might make certain types of bacteria immune to the medicine (kind of like giving them a vaccine!).

      Pneumonia, on the other hand, CAN be caused by bacteria, and so antibiotics will work to cure it in some cases. The way that the antibiotics work (their name literally means ‘against bacteria’) is simply by killing off or slowing down the bacteria that are causing the infection.

    • Photo: Faye Didymus

      Faye Didymus answered on 23 Apr 2012:

      Great question ells8! First let me start with a little information about antibiotics….Antibiotics can only be used to cure bacterial infections such as pneumonia, which is a type of chest infection that you mention – unfortunately antibiotics can’t help us if we have a viral infection. Bacteria are tiny organisms that can sometimes cause illness to humans and animals but it is important to remember that some bacteria aren’t harmful at all and are even good for us! Before bacteria can multiply and cause symptoms our white blood cells (our immune system) can usually destroy them. Even if symptoms do occur, our immune system can usually cope and fight off the infection before it gets too bad. Sometimes, however our bodies need some help and this can come from antibiotics. So to answer your question, there are two main ways that antibiotics work:
      1) Some kill the bacteria (e.g., Penicillin, which was the first antibiotic to be discovered!) These types of antibiotics usually work by either interfering with the formation of the bacterium’s cell wall or its cell contents.
      2) Other antibiotics stop bacteria from multiplying by interfering with the genetic material inside the bacterial cell.

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