When taking antibiotics, does every single germ have to die?
When I get sick and need to take antibiotics, I get admonished to carry the treatment until the end, otherwise I am breeding antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Does this mean that when I finish the treatment, there is not a single germ (of a particular type, targeted by the particular antibiotic) left in my body?
I think I understand the mechanism. When I take the antibiotic, the germs do not like it, but are not killed immediately. They suffer and suffer in the course of days. The weaker germs die first and the die hard ones, those who already possess some resistance due to random genetic mutations, die last. Therefore, the overall average antibiotic resistance of the germs in my body is rising in the course of the treatment and then suddenly drops to zero as all the germs are dead. Is this correct? Does every single organism of a particular type die in the treatment?
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No, you do not have to kill every single (targeted) germ. Often antibiotics are bacteriostatic which means they do not kill the germs but stop them from reproducing. Your immune system then does the job of killing them. If antibiotics are bacteriostatic or bacterizidal can but must not depend on their concentration.
Please see Wikipedia: Bacteriostatic agent for more details.
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