Topical antibiotics

Taste the term once again. Topical antibiotics. What I see before me is thoughtless abuse and optimal conditions for the development of resistant bacteria. People do not even respect systemic antibiotics. If they get a prescription for let us say 10 days, many quit as they start to feel better, and save the left-over pills for later occasions. This does not mean that the infection is eradicated from the body. Instead the strongest and most adaptive bacteria survive, and provide the basis for future antibiotic-resistant strains. This is why, if there is a true indication for using antibiotics, you should always finish the whole prescription - down to the last pill. However, most light infections are better taken care of by our own immune system. Every infection that is naturally fought, makes you stronger and better protected. Antibiotics do not give you that benefit.

So, what about the topical antibiotics? Do you think that people are more careful with them? Of course not. In Israel the doctor sends you home with eye-drops or ear-drops containing antibiotics for the lightest infection. No specific directions on for how long to use them, or possibly "until it does not hurt anymore". This is to me insane. It is like applying some nazis on Germany to eradicate all the Jews in the whole world. It only decimates them temporarily, and instead makes the survivors stronger.