• Question: what would happen if an antibiotic went into our system and didn't work?

    Asked by Alisha to Ceri, Marikka, Matt, Rob, Sally on 14 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Sally Cutler

      Sally Cutler answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      Hi, if the antibiotic did not work, then it would just be excreted without inhibiting the infection for which it had been given.

    • Photo: Ceri Dare

      Ceri Dare answered on 15 Nov 2014:

      Sometimes when people take antibiotics, whether they work or not, they get side effects. The commonest of these is an upset tummy, because antibiotics kill the good bacteria which help us to digest our food too.

      If one antibiotic doesn’t work, then doctors will try another one. Very rarely, there are no antibiotics which will treat very tough bacteria – sadly often then people die.

    • Photo: Robert Hampson

      Robert Hampson answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      If you try to kill a resistant bacteria with an antibiotic it is resistant to, it would either be destroyed by the bacteria, slowly digested or excreted. Any side effects that the antibiotic normally has would still be possible.

    • Photo: Marikka Beecroft

      Marikka Beecroft answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      Many things would happen, like Ceri and Rob said there can be a break down of the antibiotic by bacteria or by your own body and there still would be side effects.

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