BE WARY OF BACTERIAL INVASIONS

Sometimes, though, when a cold persists or causes debilitating pain or fever, it is no longer a cold at all but has progressed into a bacterial infection either in the sinuses (sinusitis) or middle ear (otitis media). These infections have a chance to gain a foothold when cold symptoms interfere with proper drainage in the upper respiratory passages. When a cold persists for weeks, the nasal discharge becomes thick and yellow or greenish, and a headache or painful pressure develops in the face, cheeks, upper teeth, and/or around the eyes, sinusitis is the likely cause. An ear infection is more readily recognized: the intense pain and sense of fullness in the ear is unmistakable. Only when such complicating infections arise is it time to bring in the heavy artillery-antibiotics that can attack the troublesome bacteria even though they are useless against the original viral infection.

There is no point in using antibiotics if the complicating infection is caused by a virus. Bacteria attack from outside of cells. Antibiotics used against bacteria don't work against viruses because viruses live and multiple inside cells and the antibiotics used against bacteria do not get into cells.

To add to the confusion, cold and flulike symptoms sometimes mimic more serious bacterial illnesses. Strep throat, for example, often begins like a cold, with a sore throat and fever. However, in strep throat, which is caused by a bacterium, the sore throat very quickly becomes severe, making swallowing even water problematic, fever runs high, and sometimes the heart beats rapidly. With strep throat, which should be diagnosed with a throat culture, antibiotic therapy is critically important to prevent the bacteria from causing a more serious infection of the heart valves (rheumatic fever) or the kidneys (glomerulonephritis).

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Anti-Infectives