The doctor's office just told me that they were not allowed to call in

[frazzled]

43. It's about drug resistance, and also,

giving an antibiotic when there is no bacterial condition can be harmful rather than helpful.

For decades, that has meant a certain expectation of prescribed antibiotics, but the rising tide of antibiotic-resistant conditions has caused physicians to take another look at when, why and to whom they prescribe these potent germ-killers. This year, you may just get an explanation about what antibiotics do and don’t do, and perhaps a decongestant or cough suppressant to go with it, rather than those Z-packs or Amoxicillin tablets.

Health and medical groups have become outspoken about when antibiotics are needed (in cases of bacterial, fungal or certain parasitic infections) and are not (virus-caused illnesses), and have advised physicians to be more forthright about explaining the differences to their patients rather than merely offering antibiotics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent has its “Get Smart” program, which includes a website dedicated to the subject (cdc.gov/getsmart/).

It reads: “Taking antibiotics when you have a virus may do more harm than good. Taking antibiotics when they are not needed increases your risk of getting an infection later that resists antibiotic treatment.”

It goes on to call antibiotic resistance “one of the world’s most pressing public health problems” and adds, “Almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is really needed. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria can quickly spread to family members, schoolmates and co-workers, threatening the community with a new strain of infectious disease that is more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat.”

https://www.floridatoday.com/article/20131114/HEALTH/311140039/

People taking antibiotics when they shouldn't puts everyone at risk, because bacteria are growing resistant--and when you really need them they may be ineffective. My husband had a medical emergency several years ago, when a hematoma on his leg (the result of a serious bicycle accident he'd had several months earlier--he'd broken a shoulder and ribs and punctured a lung, so no one was too interested the hematoma at the time) became seriously infected. It was a staph infection, of the kind that can kill you within hours. He was put (first intravenously in the hospital and then orally at home) on an antibiotic "of last resort." What happens when staph becomes resistant to these antibiotics, too?

The CDC has recognized that this is a huge problem, so don't expect to get an antibiotic every time you think you need or want one. I believe your doctor was correct to ask you to come in to see him/her. It's the responsible thing to do for the public health.