Antibiotics and Fever
A medical expert explains that fever is a symptom rather than a disease and warns against the misuse of antibiotics for viral infections. Overusing antibiotics contributes to the growing global threat of antibiotic resistance, which makes common infections harder to treat.
Why it matters
Public health officials are increasingly concerned about antibiotic resistance, making patient education on proper medication use vital.
Dr Raghav GuptaEvery year, thousands of people develop a fever due to common infections. For many families, the first reaction is to buy an antibiotic from a nearby pharmacy or use leftover medicines from a previous illness.While this may seem like a quick solution, it is one of the biggest reasons antibiotic resistance is becoming a serious public health threat.The first thing to understand is that fever is a symptom, not a disease. It is the body's natural response to an infection or inflammation. Fever can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, autoimmune diseases, and even certain medications. Treating every fever with an antibiotic is like trying to fix every vehicle problem by changing the engine-it simply does not make sense.Most fevers are caused by viral infections, such as the common cold, influenza, COVID-19, or viral gastroenteritis. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses.
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