Does the Red Cross recommend that people stock up on certain antibiotics?
No. An antibiotic is a chemical that is used after exposure to a disease-causing organism. Health professionals are reluctant to or will not prescribe antibiotics before exposure (prophylactic treatment) because that further increases the problem of mutations of organisms to be resistant to antibiotics. If an organism develops resistance to common antibiotics, then more powerful antibiotics may have to be used instead. More powerful antibiotics often have serious side effects, sometimes worse than the actual disease. In addition: Antibiotics are specific as to the type of organism they work for. You don’t know which one to take until you know what you have been exposed to. Usually the lay-public cannot tell what one has been exposed to. A doctor has to determine that, usually through tests. Most antibiotics have a limited shelf-life, and some require refrigeration and/or special storage. Antibiotics are not useful for virus-caused illnesses. Viruses are different types of organisms and
