The Risk of Self-Medication
Puerto Vallarta has experienced exponential demographic growth, leading to overcrowded health clinics and an increase in the cost of medical consultations. The rising prices in the healthcare sector, including expensive medical consultations and the escalating cost of medications, especially antibiotics, have prompted many people to resort to self-medication. However, how dangerous can self-medication be in treating a flu caused by bacteria?
Antibiotics have revolutionized the history of medicine, enabling the treatment of infectious diseases that were once deadly, thereby saving millions of lives. The modern era of antibiotics began with the discovery of penicillin in 1928. However, in 1940, it was found that a group of bacteria could produce a protein called Penicillinase, providing bacteria with resistance to antibiotics. This meant that the bacteria no longer responded to penicillin, and they did not die. As penicillin was introduced as a therapeutic, strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria increased, suggesting that the use of antibiotics promoted resistance. Between 1950 and 1970, new antibiotics were discovered during the golden age of miraculous medications, with an optimistic belief that these communicable diseases were on the verge of complete elimination. Antibiotics were viewed as a powerful, magical weapon that selectively killed infection-causing microbes without causing harm to the host, which is entirely false.
The excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics over the years has contributed to the emergence of resistant bacteria. The production of new antibiotics has been directly proportional to the rise of superbugs. Thus, years after the first patients were treated with antibiotics, bacterial infections have once again become a threat.
The issue with self-medication lies in the fact that some flu cases are caused by viruses, not bacteria. Taking antibiotics in such cases is ineffective. Moreover, the excessive use of antibiotics can create resistant bacteria that do not succumb to the antibiotic. This problem has been widely observed worldwide, with statistics indicating that more than 20,000 people die each year due to resistant bacteria.
Therefore, "Vallarta Today" strongly recommends seeking professional medical advice to receive an appropriate treatment.