Patient's question:
The child has severe diarrhea and has been vomiting and not eating recently. The hospital's diagnosis is rotavirus. Can antibiotics be used to treat the child?Doctor's answer:
A child with rotavirus should use antibiotics sparingly. Surprisingly, antibiotics not only do not speed up recovery but also worsen diarrhea caused by lactose intolerance! Therefore, any antibiotics should be prohibited for children with rotavirus diarrhea unless they also have a bacterial infection! It is highly inappropriate to use broad-spectrum antibiotics for such patients without proof of a bacterial infection.