• Question: what happens if you take antibiotics for no reason?

    Asked by MToDaB on 18 Jul 2023.
    • Photo: Clare Morrow

      Clare Morrow answered on 18 Jul 2023:

      You could end up contributing to antibiotic resistance which could then cause problems for other people.

      Also taking antibiotics that you don’t need may affect the normal bacteria (non-harmful) that live in and on you.

    • Photo: Bruno Silvester Lopes

      Bruno Silvester Lopes answered on 18 Jul 2023:

      It can lead to bacteria becoming powerful and causing severe infections which can kill us

    • Photo: Caroline Addey

      Caroline Addey answered on 19 Jul 2023:

      They may make you feel unwell as they can kill good bacteria and disrupt the balance of bugs in your gut.

      More generally over use of antibiotics causes bacteria to become more resistant to antibiotics and may means someone who is ill cannot be made better by antibiotics when they really need them.

    • Photo: Hannah Scholes

      Hannah Scholes answered on 20 Jul 2023:

      It can make you feel unwell as they can harm the important bacteria that help to protect us in our gut as well as the bacteria that usually make you poorly. It can also contribute to antibiotic resistance which then makes it harder to treat different diseases.

    • Photo: Kip Heath

      Kip Heath answered on 20 Jul 2023:

      You may not feel very well. Antibiotics aren’t very accurate so will kill lots of bacteria, not just the ones you want them to. That can change your own natural antibiotics and make you feel ill. It’s quite common for people on antibiotics to have stomach-ache or diarrhoea.

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