What is a medication?

A medication is a drug that is used to prevent, treat, or relieve the symptoms of disease.  

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What is a painkiller?

Painkillers are used to treat the symptoms of disease, but do not kill pathogens.

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What is an antibiotic?

Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent bacterial infections. They work by killing bacteria or preventing them from dividing.

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Can a particular type of antibiotic kill all types of bacteria?

No. Each antibiotic is specific to an individual type of bacteria, or specific to a group of bacteria. 

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Can an antibiotic kill viruses?

No. Antibiotics can only kill bacteria.

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Why is it difficult to develop drugs to kill viruses?

Viruses are usually found within body cells, so it is hard to kill the virus without damaging the body's tissues. 

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What is antibiotic resistance?

Occasionally, by random chance, bacteria evolve so that antibiotics no longer kill them. In these cases we say that the bacteria has developed 'antibiotic resistance'.

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How can we reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance?

  1. Ensure that patients take the entire course of antibiotics they're prescribed.
  2. Ensure that doctors only prescribe antibiotics when it's necessary.
  3. Stop giving so many antibiotics to farm animals. 

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