Teach you how to distinguish between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs

When the seasons change, babies with weak immunity are prone to colds and fevers. Some anxious parents will give their children antibiotics, claiming that it will be good for inflammation. In fact, antibiotics ≠ anti-inflammatory drugs. As a rumor terminator, I will talk to you today about antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

What is the difference between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs?

Antibiotics refer to microbial products that have killing or inhibitory effects on some specific microorganisms at high dilutions, and most of them are naturally extracted. In fact, the antibiotics we usually use should be called antibacterial drugs, which include not only natural extractions but also artificial synthesis. However, confusing these two concepts is not a big problem of principle. Anti-inflammatory drugs are the common name for drugs that have the ability to reduce inflammatory responses. They are mainly responsible for solving symptoms such as "redness, swelling, heat and pain", such as headaches, arthritis and gout. In short, antibiotics must be used when there is a bacterial infection, and inflammatory symptoms are not necessarily related to bacterial infections.

How to distinguish antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs?

So much has been said before, all of which are theoretical knowledge, but how do you distinguish between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs? Here is the simplest way - look at the drug name and find the key words. Here are a few simple examples.

Penicillin antibiotics: generally called ××cillin, ××penicillin. Common ones include amoxicillin, penicillin, and benzathine penicillin.

Cephalosporin antibiotics: This is easy. All drugs in this category contain the word "cephalosporin". For example, cefaclor and cefprozil.

Macrolide antibiotics: They are basically called macrolides. For example, commonly used erythromycin, roxithromycin, azithromycin, etc. Of course, there are exceptions, such as clindamycin and lincomycin do not belong to this category.

Tetracycline antibiotics: They are basically called tetracyclines, such as doxycycline and minocycline. They are not recommended for children under 8 years old.

Nitroimidazole antibiotics: The last words of their names contain "nidazole", such as metronidazole, tinidazole, ornidazole, etc.

In addition to the above, there are other types of antibiotics, such as the big-name carbapenem XXpenem, glycopeptide vancomycin, and the quinolone XXfloxacin which is not recommended for children.

Anti-inflammatory drugs: There are mainly two categories. One is adrenal cortical hormones, and the word "song" is contained in the drug names, such as dexamethasone and prednisone. The other is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There is no pattern to follow in the names of these drugs, but everyone must be familiar with them, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, which are commonly used to reduce baby's fever.

When can antibiotics be used?

In short, it is right not to take antibiotics casually. They must be used when a bacterial infection is diagnosed. The doctor will judge whether there is a bacterial infection based on the baby's clinical symptoms, signs and examination results. Some parents are overly worried about the adverse reactions of antibiotics and are unwilling to give them to their babies. Although it is said that "all medicines are three-point poison", we must always weigh the pros and cons of everything. If there is a bacterial infection and you are unwilling to use antibiotics, the course of the disease will be prolonged at best, and serious infection will occur at worst, endangering life. Therefore, you still have to listen to the doctor.

If you still can't tell the difference between antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, or don't know how to use antibiotics, don't panic. Pick up your phone, find the Henan Children's Hospital official account, click on the medication service to consult online. Every day, senior pharmacists will sit and wait for you to consult.

(Wu Guanghua, Henan Provincial Children's Hospital)