Prescription antibiotics in first-aid

I can see a few very rare instances where having oral antibiotics might be useful, but having a PLB or similar renders most of these redundant. A few thoughts: 1) I wouldn't take expired antibiotics, especially ones stored in a tramping pack for a year or more. So you will need to continually update your stock. 2) Obviously you would want a broad-spectrum antibiotic to cover a range of bacteria. You would need to consider the scenarios you might use them as the most effective antibiotic could vary (but I am no expert on this). For example, taking a prophylactic antibiotic for an open fracture could require a different antibiotic than one used to treat a gastro bug etc.. 3) Make sure you (or others in your party) don't have an allergy to the class of antibiotic you are carrying. The last thing you need is a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction in the back of nowhere. I would only take antibiotics that you have been prescribed by a doctor. 4) Many GI/respiratory infections are viral and antibiotics won't do you any good. 5) In NZ oral antibiotics are prescription only - so I am not sure how you plan to get these antibiotics for your kit?

I definitely take them. Especially since I heard a few horror stories about contracting lepto from hut tables or water supplies. Have also heard some horror stories about getting blood poisoning from a contaminated hunting knife - not sure how effective antibiotics would be in that situation tho....

i take a supply of vitamin c.. take tens of grams a day if i get sick..

A comprehensive response, ruahine; particularly the PLB comment ... and thoughts 1 to 5 as well ! As to Vit C, it won't do you any harm but the evidence for beneficial effect is, at best, not strong. BTW, wayno, 10s of grams is excessive - the excess (virtually all of it) is excreted. Even the treatment for scurvy is just a couple of grams a day for the 1st few days reducing quickly after that.

What ever happened to the importance of basic hygeine. It's easy to get the impression people are replacing attention to basic hygeine practices with medicines in their backpack. I really don't believe i am germophobe but there is no way i would use a hut in the backcountry without the ever present thought that all surfaces in there are potentially threatening. I have never seen a cleaning service at any of the huts and i don't think for a minute that i could rely on everybody doing the right thing. It's not just about huts though. It's about not transferring anything to yourself after touching something. It takes alot of practice to be aware of what you touch all the time but i think better than trying to stock my tramp with antibiotics and all. Lucky for me, i get practice because i work with food.

brenieq i've conducted tests on vitamin C excretion.. if you're sick enough, it doesnt get excreted, it all gets used almost all mammals other than apes make copious amounts of vitamin C when they are sick i've taken 80 grams of vitamin c in a day when sick, very little was excreted.. but under normal circumstances, more than a few hundred mg is usually excreted people have been treated for all sorts of illnesses with high dose vitamin c where it shortened the length of the illness compared to the norm... we attempt to make vitamin c in our bodies but lost the ability thousands of years ago in distant ancestors... theory is we once got so much in our diets in tropical environments the genes got turned off. vitamin c is like ammunnition for your immune system when you're sick... but yes hygiene first and enough vitamin D, your immune system will never get into gear without enough vitamin D, especially in the less sunny months...

I would suggest having a look at this (reputable) link : https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/ What illnesses are you trying to treat with Vit C? We are talking about tramping, not stuff like cancer, cardiovascular disease etc. (for which there is mixed evidence, and that for IV-administered dosing). If you're sick enough, use the PLB. Randomised, double blind, studies have shown no benefit of high dose Vit C (other than possibly a small reduction (a day or two) in flu symptoms duration *if consumed prior to symptoms being expressed*) The UL (tolerable upper limit) of Vit C is 2g / day. Beyond that, you risk diarrhoea, nausea - wont kill you but not desirable. Quote from the NIH link above : "At daily intakes of 100 mg or higher, cells appear to be saturated and at intakes of at least 200 mg, plasma concentrations increase only marginally"

I second high-dose Vitamin C. Its great for many things and lets not forget that medicine is one of those fields dominated by big money. This is shown by higher dose Vit C being made hard for the public to access in many countries (including Australia) through the Codex Alimentarius - a campaign driven by those who benefit from otherwise selling their medicines to the public. The reason cited being the "harm" that is caused by ingesting large doses - but this "harm" is dubious at best. High Dose Vit C has always worked wonders for me with some issues but especially stomach complaints or when I feel I am coming down with something.

if you have a major infection, i'm telling you, you're not going to OD by taking tens of grams of vitamin C i've taken that much on numerous occasions. it gets used up by the immune system rapidly. you can read all the studies you want done under specific conditions, but i've done thee hard yards myself on the subject... and i was better off for megadosing on vitamin c when i had infections than when i didnt...