Is antibiotic resistance bad for everyone or more just bad for the person that take too much of them?

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My doctor recently prescribed me antibiotics, which I am paranoid about as I have taken a lot recently. Is taking a lot of antibiotics bad for me personally, like I will be less able to fight infection with antibiotics later on?

Or, is it almost like pollution, where people as a whole are just using too much of it for it to be sustainable?

Other way of saying it I guess: Is 5 people taking 1 unnecessary antibiotic each a year the same as 1 person taking 5 unncessary antibiotics a year?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The main worry is that with the prolific use of antibiotics and the fact that not everyone uses them as prescribed, the bacteria can evolve resistance to the antibiotics creating strains that we have no recourse against. This can turn even common bacteria into great threats under the right circumstances.

This is probably not a personal worry, however you should always eat all of your prescribed antibiotics since not eating all of them can give the bacteria an opportunity to survive while still exposed to the drug. This is a prime environment for resistance to develop.

Here is a cool video if you are interested! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yybsSqcB7mE&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yybsSqcB7mE&t=3s)

That being said there can be side effect for eating a lot of antibiotics. The loss of the beneficial bacteria in your gut being one that quickly comes to mind. This is something that your doctor takes into account when prescribing your drugs.

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