My Favorite Infections

Number one is urine infections in women, because I quickly make them go away. Handing over a packet of antibiotics, I assure someone who has been running to the bathroom every half hour that she’ll feel better by the next morning. In men, urine infections are usually prostate infections; these resolve slowly.

Eye infections (“pinkeye,” conjunctivitis) go away quickly after we prescribe antibiotic drops because most conjunctivitis goes away quickly whether or not antibiotics help (mostly they don’t). Everyone with a pink eye assumes they need eye drops, and doctors are happy to oblige, so we find these satisfying to treat.

Some intestinal infections respond to antibiotics but almost all occur in poor parts of the world. They’re rare in the US where vomiting and diarrhea is usually a “stomach virus” and short-lived.   

Amazingly, experts debate whether antibiotics help ear infections. Doctors in many nations don’t prescribe them, but Americans do. Patients give us credit when they get better. We like that.