--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
THIS WEEK
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates


Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies

90% of Cold Patients Don't Need Antibiotics

People in China now have a new question: how come you should have a doctor's permission to buy drugs to treat a common cold?

 

Some antibiotics for treating colds that were previously OTC, or over the counter, now have to be bought with a doctor's prescription. The Health Ministry has just tightened restrictions on sales of antibiotics.

 

Doctors say 90% of people with the common cold don't need antibiotics, which mainly target bacteria and parasites, while over 90% of cold symptoms are caused by a virus.

 

So antibiotics do nothing to cure colds, which the body normally cures itself within a few days.

 

Overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in many countries. People take them when they don't need them: the bugs get resistant to the antibiotics, so when antibiotics are really needed, they don't work.

 

(CRI July 6, 2004)

 

Prescriptions to Be Required for Antibiotics
Antibiotics Regulated in Shanghai
'Antibiotics-free' Pig Fodder Invented in Shanghai
McDonald's to Phase out Antibiotics Use in Meat
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688