– Why can’t you take all of the pills in an antibiotic prescription in one day, rather than 2 or 3 per day

Question

I’m assuming it has to do with making sure you get any straggler bacteria, but wouldn’t taking all the pills at once shock and awe the little buggers and force them to surrender?

In: Biology

Answer 1

ELI5+TLDR: regularly scheduled doses of an antibiotic, timed according to how the body metabolizes it, over a period of days, are necessary to clear/suppress/eliminate the bacterial infection.

ELI25: because of how bacteria grow as it relates to when they are susceptible to antibiotics, a one time/shock+awe approach does not work.