Tags
Antibiotic, Antimicrobial drug, Antiviral drugs, Bacteria, Chlamydia, Descriptive diagnosis, Fungus, general host defences, hospitalised, local host defences, Mycoplasma, Parasite, Pathogens, Provisional diagnosis, Severity, virus
If you are prescribed an antibiotic or antimicrobial drug, ask your doctor what the diagnosis or provisional diagnosis is. It should be a descriptive diagnosis with the following components among others with treatment implications:-
- The type of organism causing or likely to be causing the infection-Virus, Chlamydia, Mycoplasma, Bacteria, Fungus or Parasite –the more specific the better. If it is a virus, you will not need an antibiotic. However, some viral infections need to be treated with antiviral drugs.
- Site of infection-part of the body affected. The doctor may use a word ending in ‘itis’ like ‘Tonsillitis’ indicating the site of infection in this case the tonsils.
- The state of your host defences at local (where the infection is) and general level. This is important for some infections as the host defences play a major role in eliminating the pathogens.Recurrent infections may indicate a malfunctioning of the host defences.
- Severity- if severe, you may have to be hospitalised.
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