Hospitals and Healthcare

The race to find a vaccine for the coronavirus echoes the quest to mass produce penicillin in the United States and Britain during World War II

Treating children intravenously with antibiotics at home is safe, effective, and more cost-effective than hospital, University of Melbourne research finds.

Many common infections have features that can help you decide when an antibiotic might be appropriate.

Antibiotic resistance is a major and growing global health threat. These five recent examples show us how dangerous it can be.

Nevertheless, it may be a good idea to avoid alcohol while fighting an infection, since alcohol can interact with many drugs other than antibiotics and irritate an already inflamed stomach lining. The F.D.A. generally advises that patients “should talk to your doctor about any alcohol you use or plan to use.”

University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute researchers have found a link between taking antibiotics in pregnancy and child infection.

Now they are using lessons from the experience to urge action on the growing problem of drug-resistant infections before it’s too late.

About 10% of people believe they're allergic to penicillin. Only about 2% actually are.

In one case a woman in a care home was found to have taken antibiotics for more than a decade, after she caught a chest infection while owning a parrot.

There may be additional long-term health harms from antibiotic exposure in early life and before birth, including an increased risk of infection, obesity and asthma.