Pre-surgery antibiotics can prevent infection
Antibiotics are without question the miracle drugs of the 20th century. Penicillin, the first widely produced antibiotic, saved more soldiers’ lives during World War II than the Sherman tank. Since the 1940s researchers have discovered newer, more powerful strains of antibiotics to treat everything from a common ear infection to the most exotic tropical disease.
When a young mother or father takes their sick child to the doctor complaining of high fevers, green mucus and listlessness, they don’t want to hear the standard speech about drinking lots of liquids and getting plenty of rest - they want something that will alleviate the symptoms almost instantly. They want to be given antibiotics. And sadly many doctors are more than happy to prescribe them, whether patients really need them or not.