Strep Throat, and does drinking alcohol "kill" antibiotics?

[bigredd]

Hey doc, I was diagnosed with the strep Wednesday and put on penicillin. I have a couple questions.

1. Does drinking alcohol really kill the antibiotics?
2. When should I not be afraid to be around other humans for fear of giving them this horrid virus?
3. If around others, is this thing airborne or would someone need to make direct contact with me or something I've been in contact with?

[Dr Steve]

Hey doc, I was diagnosed with the strep Wednesday and put on penicillin. I have a couple questions.

1. Does drinking alcohol really kill the antibiotics?
2. When should I not be afraid to be around other humans for fear of giving them this horrid virus?
3. If around others, is this thing airborne or would someone need to make direct contact with me or something I've been in contact with?


Strep is a bacteria, called streptococcus pyogenes and is also known as Group A Beta Strep...it causes strep throat; weirdly, taking antibiotics has never been shown to decrease the duration of the sore throat! The reason to take antibiotics is because antibiotic therapy has been shown to decrease the rate of post-streptococcal conditions like rheumatic fever...and rheumatic fever really sucks.

24 hours of antibiotic therapy is generally considered to be enough to render you non-contagious.

Regarding transmission of strep, I quote from the Mayo Clinic:

Streptococcal bacteria are highly contagious. They can spread through airborne droplets when someone with the infection coughs or sneezes. You can also pick up the bacteria from a doorknob or other surface and transfer them to your nose or mouth. Kitchen utensils and bathroom objects are other common modes of infection transmission.

Ok, here's the straight poop on mixing alcohol and antibiotics: alcohol doesn't generally diminish the activity of antibiotics in the body. However, there are two antibiotics (flagyl (metronidazole) and Bactrim (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole)) that may cause severe adverse effects if mixed with alcohol. Also, alcohol and antibiotics can cause the same side effects, including nausea and headaches, so that's bad. The myth that drinking alcohol "kills" antibiotics probably comes from the fact that alcohol "kills" bacteria when it's rubbed on the skin. Humans are funny and they get things goofed up in their heads sometimes.

hope this helps!



your pal,



steve