Oh, the reason I say "BS" is not only am I skeptical about normal people getting immune, but my perhaps merely anecdotal experiences w/people who probably didn't get the medicine they could use cuz of "don't give too much" worries.
Started w/my mom, who got some weird cough during an illness years ago. The cough never left (finally, tho, a GI type thought it mite be related to her GI problems - it's reduced alot). For years, she was constantly doing this annoying cough.
Now, I have 2 people hacking it up for YEARS in this office. Oh, and another co-worker in another area. 1 of them is YOUNGER than I am. They are not asthma victims, and it's not allergies. They started several years ago. I don't know, of course, exactly what is wrong w/them or if they even visited doctors. (I really don't want to ask virtual strangers if they've ever done anything to SHUT UP THAT ANNOYING COUGH!)
I keep thinking, is this what it was like 100 years ago when people who fell ill managed to survive? Forever crippled w/some annoying side effect? Coughing forever is not good for you, either. I hope doctors aren't so afraid of "resistance" that they'll let people be permanently debilitated by some illness.
I keep thinking, is this what it was like 100 years ago when people who fell ill managed to survive?
100 years ago, your chances of dying from any given illness was much greater than today; things aren't all that bad....
I think you're missing his point. The immunity or resistance to antibiotics isnt with the people actually taking the meds--its rather that the bacteria have already gained resistance/immunity elsewhere before infection. Many of the more common antibiotics wont work at all on the resistant bacteria when people actually do get infected with the resistant strain. Its pretty much known that resistance to many ABs has been gained from overprescrips i.e people taking them when not needed etc.