What you take for an infection depends entirely on what’s causing it. Bacterial infections require antibiotics, viral infections are managed with antivirals or symptom relief, and fungal infections need antifungal medications. Most infections that need prescription treatment won’t resolve on their own, but many milder ones can be managed at home while your immune system does the work. Here’s a breakdown of what’s available for each type.
Antibiotics for Bacterial Infections
Bacteria cause some of the most common infections people deal with: urinary tract infections, strep throat, sinus infections, skin infections, and pneumonia. Antibiotics are the standard treatment, and the specific type your provider prescribes depends on which bacteria are involved and where the infection is located.
Penicillin-type antibiotics (including amoxicillin) are among the most widely prescribed and work well for throat infections, ear infections, and some skin infections. Fluoroquinolones are typically reserved for urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and bone infections. For more serious infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA, stronger options like vancomycin may be necessary. Your provider will often choose the narrowest-spectrum antibiotic that will work, meaning one that targets the likely bacteria without wiping out everything else in your system.
One important point: you cannot buy antibiotics over the counter. They always require a prescription, and for good reason. Taking the wrong antibiotic, or taking one when you don’t actually have a bacterial infection, contributes to antibiotic resistance and can cause side effects without any benefit.
Finishing Your Full Antibiotic Course
You’ve probably heard that you should always finish your entire course of antibiotics, even if you feel better after a few days. The reasoning is straightforward: stopping early may leave some bacteria alive, increasing your risk of the infection coming back and potentially selecting for resistant organisms that are harder to treat the next time around. Patients with resistant infections tend to recover more slowly and are more likely to need follow-up visits.
There is some ongoing debate among clinicians about whether shorter courses might work just as well for certain infections. But until your provider specifically tells you it’s safe to stop early, completing the prescribed course remains the safest approach.
Antivirals for Flu and Other Viral Infections
Viruses cause colds, the flu, COVID-19, and many other common illnesses. Antibiotics do nothing against viruses. For most viral infections, your body clears the virus on its own, and treatment focuses on managing symptoms while you recover.
The flu is one exception where prescription antivirals can shorten the illness. The CDC recommends four antiviral options for influenza. The most commonly prescribed is oseltamivir (Tamiflu), available as a pill or liquid. Baloxavir (Xofluza) is a single-dose pill, which makes it convenient. These work best when started within 48 hours of symptom onset, so timing matters. Antivirals for COVID-19 are separate medications and are not interchangeable with flu antivirals.
For most other viral infections, including common colds, there’s no antiviral medication available. Treatment is purely about symptom management.
Antifungal Medications
Fungal infections range from mild skin conditions like athlete’s foot and ringworm to more serious internal infections in the lungs or bloodstream. Treatment comes in several forms: creams, ointments, powders, and shampoos for skin infections, or oral tablets and capsules for infections that go deeper.
For surface-level skin infections, over-the-counter antifungal creams containing terbinafine or clotrimazole are often effective and don’t require a prescription. You’ll find these marketed for athlete’s foot, jock itch, and ringworm. Fungal nail infections and vaginal yeast infections also have OTC treatment options, though stubborn cases may need prescription-strength medication.
Oral antifungals like fluconazole are prescribed for more widespread or internal fungal infections, including lung infections. These require medical supervision because some carry risks of liver toxicity.
Over-the-Counter Symptom Relief
Regardless of whether your infection is bacterial, viral, or fungal, you’ll likely want relief from fever, pain, and general misery while your body fights it off. Several OTC medications help with this.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil) both reduce fever and relieve pain from headaches, sore throats, and body aches. Naproxen (Aleve) is another option that lasts longer per dose. If you’re taking acetaminophen, keep your total daily intake under 4,000 milligrams to avoid liver damage, and be careful about combining it with multi-symptom cold medicines that often contain acetaminophen as an ingredient.
For urinary tract infections specifically, phenazopyridine (sold as AZO or Uristat) can relieve the burning sensation while you urinate. It’s important to understand that this medication only numbs the symptoms. It does not treat the infection itself. You still need antibiotics to clear a UTI, and the burning typically fades quickly once you start them.
Natural Options With Some Evidence
A few natural remedies have genuine clinical support, though none replace prescription treatment for a confirmed infection. Medical-grade manuka honey has been approved by the FDA since 2007 as a wound treatment option. Applied topically, it has demonstrated antibacterial properties and is used for burns, ulcers, and non-healing wounds. This isn’t regular grocery store honey; it’s specifically formulated for wound care and available in hydrogel dressings.
Honey also has some evidence supporting its use for soothing coughs associated with upper respiratory infections, particularly in children over one year old. It won’t kill a virus, but it can ease throat irritation while you recover.
Protecting Your Gut During Antibiotics
Antibiotics kill the bacteria causing your infection, but they also disrupt the beneficial bacteria in your digestive system. This is why diarrhea is one of the most common antibiotic side effects. Probiotics can help reduce this risk, but the details matter.
Clinical studies that show benefit typically start probiotics as soon as possible, either before or within one to two days of beginning antibiotics. To keep the antibiotic from killing the probiotic bacteria immediately, spacing them about two hours apart is a practical approach. Yeast-based probiotics aren’t affected by antibiotics at all, which gives them an advantage in this situation. After finishing your antibiotic course, continuing probiotics for 7 to 14 days is a commonly tested strategy.
Not all probiotic products are equal. Benefits are strain-specific, meaning a product that helped prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea in a clinical trial may contain completely different strains than what’s on your pharmacy shelf. Look for products that list specific strains (not just species) and doses that match what’s been tested in research.
Signs an Infection Needs Emergency Care
Most infections are manageable with the right treatment and time. But infections can occasionally spiral into sepsis, which is the body’s extreme and life-threatening response to infection. Sepsis kills quickly and requires immediate emergency treatment.
Get to an emergency room if you or someone you’re caring for develops any combination of these symptoms during an infection: confusion or disorientation, clammy or sweaty skin, extreme pain or discomfort, fever with shivering or feeling very cold, rapid heart rate or weak pulse, or shortness of breath. These signs can escalate within hours, so acting fast is critical.