But antibiotics can cause more harm than good when they aren't used the right way. You can protect yourself and your family by knowing when you should use antibiotics and when you should avoid them. Antibiotics work in infections caused by bacteria. They don't work at all in infections caused by a virus. Most infections are caused by viruses or bacteria.
Viruses cause colds and most coughs and sore throats.
Infections caused by viruses can't be cured with antibiotics. Bacterial infections can be cured with antibiotics. Usually antibiotics kill bacteria or stop them from growing, but some bacteria have grown stronger and antibiotics won't work against them. Sometimes, resistant bacteria can be treated with more powerful medicines. A few kinds of resistant bacteria are untreatable.