It is well established that the cause of common flu and cold is influenza virus.

Antibiotics are the

medicines that are used to treat bacterial diseases. The reason why most of the common population
think that antibiotics are effective against the common flu or cold is lack of knowledge and research.
Moreover taking antibiotics helps in relieving the symptoms and by the time most of the people start
taking antibiotics; the symptoms start settling naturally. Hence giving the impression of effectiveness of
antibiotics. Another reason is misinformation. People do not hesitate to spread hearsay information
regarding different medication. They do not know what worked for others may not work for them.
Moreover some cases of sore trot caused by the staph and streptococcus infections respond effectively
and rightly to the antibiotics. It makes people believe that they would work for common flu. The reason
again is the lay man’s inability to distinguish between the viral and bacterial infections. Hence we can
say that the use of antibiotics does not have any impact on the flu, and they cannot provide relief from
symptoms, shorten the duration of illness or improve immunity to other germs. Although people might
feel better after taking antibiotics for the flu, the reason is that their body was already fighting the
infection and improving naturally. People usually seek medical treatment when their symptoms are at
their worst, and as the virus progresses, they start to feel better. However, this improvement would
have occurred even without the use of antibiotics.