But Dr. Kesselman says deciding whether an infection is bacterial or viral is not always a cut and dried decision. It s very difficult to tell viral versus bacterial in many instances. Typical examples are colds, trying to differentiate a cold from a sinus infection, trying to differentiate a red throat, viral versus strep, trying to differentiate conjunctivitis or pink eye, bacterial versus viral. This little boy got an antibiotic in an emergency room where his parents had taken him because he was wheezing, but it turned out he had viral pneumonia, an infection that doesn t respond to antibiotics. Even so, Kesselman doesn t fault the emergency room physician for prescribing the medication.
Pneumonia is another great example.
Most of the pneumonias we know about are viral, but typically people will come in, they ll hear that word, the doctor will be a little worried, they ll go home with an antibiotic. So it s a dilemma. The only solution is to develop new antibiotics. Easier said that done. Research takes time and a lot of money.