Do you think you would be dead without antibiotics?

[everythingeverything1981]

I'm pretty sure I would. Or be alive with one leg.

Yes. Appendicitis.

Most likely. I had a horrible kidney infection that hospitalised me in my 20s.

Various UTIs, bad bronchitis, an infected horsefly bite. I think I would be! ☠️

Weirdly dh and I were having this discussion today while walking round a very old graveyard. Odd to think what we take for granted nowadays

Yes infection after my second child

Same. I had to have a massive injection in my bottom twice a day. My muscle would seize up halfway through and I would start crying. The nurses were so kind. This was the mid 90s.

My daughter has cf and antibiotics are essential

Yes and so would one of my dc.
Dc2 had continuous antibiotics from age 1 to 8 years old.
I've had chronic tonsillitis, pneumonia and sepsis. So one would have killed me.

Most likely.

I would most definitely be dead without asthma medication. And also without a blood transfusion as I haemorrhaged after birth.

Nope I doubt it, I only recall having antibiotics very very rarely and nothing serious. My 13yo DS may have had complications from scarlet fever when he was 3 though and pneumonia once so he might have been. The other 2 kids have never had antibiotics.

Oo I'm not sure. I haven't had many in the course of 35 years, the only thing that springs to mind is an infected bite a couple years back and who knows, I might have been able to fight it off. However I'd probably never have had the chance to see, I'd have died during childbirth instead.

I had sepsis once, and was on an antibiotic drip in hospital for several days. Dread to think what the outcome would otherwise have been.

Yes, hospitilised with sepsis a few years ago after a tooth extraction. I was ILL. Have also had pneumonia plus a load of other infections requiring IV antibiotics but those were the main two. Also weirdly seem to get a lot of UTIs

Yes, I have osteomyelitis as a baby. Pretty sure I'd be dead or atleast without a leg.

Oh definitely. I’m essentially a Victorian invalid even with all the might of modern medicine behind me. Without it I’d have no chance. I think any run of the mill infection could ultimately get you but I can take my pick from a kidney infection, giardiasis or cellulitis on my face as most likely ways to go. I also had malaria and am eternally grateful for anti-malarials.

I had loads of chest/throat/ear infections as a kid, many banana medicine. I also managed to fully squash my leg, I imagine itay have got infected.

Also had an infection during childbirth with first I would be super double dead.

Nothing obvious springs to mind but I've had antibiotics for things like tonsillitis and ear infections. There's no way of knowing if these things might have become a lot more serious if there were no antibiotics. I know a young man who was in intensive care when a tooth abscess got out of control and led to sepsis. He would have died without antibiotics.

No, I don’t think I’ve ever had antibiotics in my life, though I can’t swear to anything when I was a child. I’m 59.

Yes; two major surgeries and nasty pneumonia.

Who knows?

My mother was constantly dragging us to the Drs for pink penicillin or similar for minor issues. I'm sure most were viral, but she was just so thankful to have access to the healthcare that didn't exist where she grew up (and she was a proper invalid as a child, getting every illness going)

These days we know that the body can fight off many things in a healthy child, even bacterial infections.

I'm not convinced that being given antibiotics in our low risk litagative health care system mean that you would have died without them, just that we prefer not to take those sorts of risks.

Yes. Meningitis and pneumonia.

Yes I’d be dead. I had bacterial meningitis/meningococcal when I was a baby. Antibiotics definitely saved my life.

I tore very badly giving birth to DD and even had a fistula torn between my vagina and bowel. I suspect the infections from those injuries would have had a good go at killing me. I had IV antibiotics and IV antifungals for a few days after having DD, and loads of stitches.

Before antibiotics 43% of people died from infections and life expectancy was 20 years lower on average. A simple scratch could kill you. Death in children before their first birthday was around 1 in 20. They also reduce the risk of contagion thereby lowering the spread of certain diseases. So although you might not have needed antibiotics personally (so far) you will have still massively benefitted from the improved health in society overall.

Yes, so many UTIs. My DS also would - he had cellulitis in his ear/neck and the doctors told us that if we had waited another hour before presenting at hospital he would have needed to be admitted and have it administered intravenously.