Antibiotics for viral infection

[Shanski]

My baby has been poorly. Yesterday saw a GP and he said he has a viral infection and gave antibiotics. Didn’t think anything of it until my sister said that antibiotics don’t treat viral infections. Does anyone have any idea as to what benefit the antibiotics would have?

None if it's viral.

The GP may feel there’s a secondary infection. For example some viral illness will cause/lead to a chest infection. A virus hits the body’s defences and a bacteria takes advantage of this.

They’ll often hedge their bets on a young baby, because while it’s usually a virus it could potentially still be a bacterial infection, and they can also get a secondary infection and go downhill very quickly.

So they err on the side of caution with small babies in a way they don’t with older children.