Why can't COVID-19 be treated with antibiotics?

November 3, 2021  23:29

Treating COVID-19 with antibiotics is a bad idea, according to the chief freelance specialist in infectious diseases of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Professor Vladimir Chulanov.

"The word 'pneumonia' often forces some doctors to prescribe antibiotics on an outpatient basis, which is absolutely pointless. Their use is justified if this pneumonia is due to a bacterial infection. This happens at the hospital stage, and most often in intensive care units, when artificial ventilation is used. But 'viral pneumonia' or 'pneumonitis' is not a reason to prescribe antibiotics," the specialist said in an interview with Izvestia.

According to him, the widespread use of antibiotics leads to the emergence of a large number of antibiotic-resistant strains. Bacteriologists notice a trend: now more often strains are sown that are resistant to those antibiotics to which they were previously sensitive.

"As a result, treating some bacterial infections will be much more difficult. Our range of instruments for their treatment will simply decrease, and this is a problem. Not many antibiotics have emerged in the past 30 years. There are no new drug classes at all. The resource is no longer so large, and the irrational use of antibiotics can further worsen the situation," he said.

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