Dangers from insect bites

[Toddy]

Once the infection's dealt with there's no point keeping on taking more antibiotic.
I've never had an antibiotic prescribed for more than seven days, and certainly never six times a day.
Must be different protocols in the different countries

We just return out of date medicines to the chemist for disposal. Tbh I don't know what they do with them, but every chemist takes them. I thought everybody did this well anyone I've heard talk of it does.

I know that in the UK antibiotics are a POM, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case in parts of Europe. Wicca's posts come to mind on this topic.

I think this is one of those fields where improved diagnostics will show benefit. Being able to target the bacteria with specific antibiotics instead of broad spectrum, in a timely fashion, has to be a good thing

Dwardo you have my complete sympathy If you can take ibruprofen safely, I find it makes a huge difference to the inflammatory response.
Put it this way, totally immobilised joints are eased within a couple of hours instead of days.
I wouldn't wish that kind of reaction on anybody Hope it clears soon for you.

cheers,
M

 

[dwardo]

Will give the ibuprofen a shot thanks Mary I find the hardest part is resisting the urge to itch but if possible it cuts the rate of infection and reaction down no end. Mind over itch!!!

Does anyone know the "territory" range of the mosquito? Do they tent to just hatch and fly with the wind or do they have a range from their hatch location?
I have checked for standing water close by but am i wasting my time if they have a range of miles.

 

[santaman2000]

Will give the ibuprofen a shot thanks Mary I find the hardest part is resisting the urge to itch but if possible it cuts the rate of infection and reaction down no end. Mind over itch!!!

Does anyone know the "territory" range of the mosquito? Do they tent to just hatch and fly with the wind or do they have a range from their hatch location?
I have checked for standing water close by but am i wasting my time if they have a range of miles.

They thrive in tall, damp grass as well.

 

[Toddy]

They thrive in tall, damp grass as well.

Ah, I didn't know that.
They're not very common here, but they're becoming more so in some areas long damp grass is pretty ubiquitous this time of year though.


Dwardo, it's when I wake up in the middle of the night, and the hairbrush starts looking like a good way to get a good scratch in at the bite, that's hardest to resist I find

M

 

[santaman2000]

Once the infection's dealt with there's no point keeping on taking more antibiotic.
I've never had an antibiotic prescribed for more than seven days, and certainly never six times a day.
Must be different protocols in the different countries

We just return out of date medicines to the chemist for disposal. Tbh I don't know what they do with them, but every chemist takes them. I thought everybody did this well anyone I've heard talk of it does....

Agreed, there's no point in continuing once the infection is dead. That said many infections appear dead before they truly are. The thought is that their's more danger in having it return than there is in taking the course a few days longer. Of course you're probably quite right in it just being a matter of differing protocols. Likely based on the cost of most modern antibiotics.

Some people here return unused meds (all meds, not just expired antibiotics) in the mistaken belief that the druggist can somehow make use of them. They're supposed to be destroyed but until about a decade ago that meant flushing them down the toilet. I remember when my mother was a nurse at an opthamology clinic, one of her responsiblities was flushing the excess or out of date cocaine (back then they still used it to make a solution for use as an eyedrop to numb the eyes before procedures)

More recently as a cop, my team would normally flush all illicit drugs not kept for evidence.

 

[Toddy]

Quote from wikipedia..........and taken from WHO, I think.

"An insufficiently long course of antibiotics may result in incomplete eradication of bacteria, leading to worsened signs and symptoms of infection. However, antibiotic resistance has been shown to increase with duration of treatment, so an incomplete course (in effect a shorter course) will result in fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
It must be noted that advice to always complete a course of antibiotics is not based on strong evidence, and usually antibiotics can be safely stopped 72 hours after symptoms resolve. Use of the prescription label “Finish all this medication unless otherwise directed by prescriber” should be discouraged."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_resistance

Basically the body is a self regulating system, sometimes we just need to support it until it fights back hard enough against bacterial attack, but we're impatient, we want results *now*, everytime. Even when in most cases antibiotics won't do much good, they're being prescribed. The WHO documents are a worrying read.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[santaman2000]

Quote from wikipedia..........and taken from WHO, I think.

"An insufficiently long course of antibiotics may result in incomplete eradication of bacteria, leading to worsened signs and symptoms of infection. However, antibiotic resistance has been shown to increase with duration of treatment, so an incomplete course (in effect a shorter course) will result in fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
It must be noted that advice to always complete a course of antibiotics is not based on strong evidence, and usually antibiotics can be safely stopped 72 hours after symptoms resolve. Use of the prescription label “Finish all this medication unless otherwise directed by prescriber” should be discouraged."...

A perfect example of why one should not trust wiki. That's in direct conflict with all literature from the CDC.

 

[Toddy]

Yeah, our advice disagrees with that too, but it wasn't the only site I found recommending it.

Basically the anti-biotics are being used when they aren't always necessary (some estimates say 80% of the time :yikes: ) and that over use, as in used too long, is as much an issue as the not long enough to finish the job, use.

The sites on bacterial resistance make scary reading too.

I've never been much on the need to take a pill for every ill, sometimes though, like antihistamines and anti-inflammatories they really do improve quality of life immeasurably.

Antibiotics............unless the need is really dire, or abcess or wound sort of thing.........mostly the body will manage fine without them, and it's a boost to the immune system too; keeps it active.

I had a quick check, it looks like returned and outdated drugs are incinerated and the residue dealt with like other medical waste
The chemists have a tub with a powder that gels and solidifies making the drugs unusable in the first instance.
I think the same method is used for the disposal of confiscated drugs like cocaine too.

cheers,
M

 

[Ivan...]

I wasn't going to say anything, as little knowledge is dangerous, but speaking from very recent experience , i contracted Lyme disease and never mind about it leading to meningitis,facial palsy,encephalitis etc etc , it's bloody horrible and i was prescribed Doxycycline (antibiotic) for 5 weeks 100mg 4 times a day , which i am sure also helped make me feel a bit rough. But thankfully because i was diagnosed within 3 weeks of contraction they did the job .

I also know of a girl , who had complications from a reoccuring U.T.I who will be taking antibiotics for the rest of her life !

 

[ged]

Frankly I'm curious where anybody gets antibiotics without a prescription?

Over the counter anywhere in Spain.

 

[Hawk]

Seems I've sparked an interesting discussion which is always good my arm is completely back to normal but it took 6 days so a 7 day standard course was about right.

 

[santaman2000]

Yeah, our advice disagrees with that too, but it wasn't the only site I found recommending it.

Basically the anti-biotics are being used when they aren't always necessary (some estimates say 80% of the time :yikes: )....

LOL. I see some things are the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Although I don't know the exact percentage over here that figure seems about right.

 

[Toddy]

It's a horrendous waste of an incredibly useful medicine, and it's worse because it's undermining the long term efficacy of the antibiotics in general

Sheer stupidity really

cheers,
M