Can we stop taking antibiotics when we feel better?

                         We need to finish the whole course of antibiotics. Just because wer're feeling better does not mean all of the bacteria causing the infection have been killed. If we stop taking your antibiotic, any remaining bacteria can reproduce and cause a second infection. To make matters worse, bacteria adapt quickly and may develop a resistance to the antibiotic you were prescribed. You would need to take a different antibiotic to kill it, which may have more severe side effects and an even longer course of treatment. If you are infected with a resistant strain of bacteria, you could spread the infection to someone else who would also be unable to take the broad-spectrum antibiotic that you were prescribed. Worst case scenario, you infect someone with a weak immune system who can't fight off the infection. If they are prescribed an antibiotic that doesn't work, they could be hospitalized or worse before the correct antibiotic can be prescribed.

An example of a resistant bacteria would be MRSA. MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. MRSA did not exist until after WWII, shortly after the wide spread use of antibiotics. Methicillin is an antibiotic.