(HealthDay News) -- Antibiotics can help you recover from a bacterial infection, but they offer no medical benefit against viruses.
Prescribing an antibiotic for an viral illness, in fact, isn't a good idea. Overuse of these medicines can make the bacteria in your body resistant to the drugs. The medicines then lose their effectiveness, making a bacterial illness harder to treat.
The American Academy of Family Physicians lists these illnesses that are often treated with an antibiotic, and a few that don't need the medication: