I thought superbugs wouldn’t have been killed by the type of antibiotics I’m taking anyway (or if they would, then wouldn’t they still be susceptible in the future?)
In: Biology
So it’s a few things really. You’re right on some level that if you have an infection and *some* of the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic than what’s it matter if you finish the dose or not, that little “bit” is still resistant right?
Three factors:
1) you have an immune system all on your own. If you have a bacterial infection and some of those buggers do carry a mutation making them resistant to the antibiotic, the hope is that the antibiotic you’re taking is going to destroy *enough* bacteria that what’s left will be fought off by your own body’s natural immune system
2) resistance doesn’t equal immunity. Blast it with enough, the suckers will die. At a certain point you’ve probably cleared your system of the non resistant type but the resistant type still need some more doses to be fully cleared out. Stop there and you give the bacteria a chance to regroup, sicken you further *and* you’re now contagious spreading just the resistant strain
3) bacteria multiply *fast*. Very very fast. And every multiplication is a chance of a mutation that results in immunity or resistance. So part of it isn’t “it won’t work against what’s already immune” but “if you kill it all off you lower the chances of some of them mutating later”
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