The Latin American Injection Article

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The Latin American Injection

Author: Andrew Cowan

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“Necesitas una inyeccion” – “You need an injection”, seems to be the most common reply I have heard in all my days of living in Latin America whenever I complain of an ailment, from a cough to a stomach ache, to a rusty piece of metal in my foot. Where as the United States phased out the Penicillin injections about 10 years ago, the tradition is still alive and well in most third world countries.

As my doctor explained to me, it is not a negative practice, and is basically the same as taking antibiotics for any given period of time, but penicillin is the least developed form of antibiotics, originating from bread mold. The reason it is no longer popular in the states, besides a long argument about how drug companies are jacking up health care prices and changing the face of pharmaceuticals simply to turn a larger profit, is that most bacterial infections have the power to morph and become immune to antibiotics if used over a long period of time.

That argument is not popular here, and injections are given left and right. My original worry was regarding the sanitary measures used when employing all of these penicillin filled needles in your regular pharmacy. However, my impression of everyday health care in Latin America has improved over time.

When I first heard about my friend receiving a shot in the butt for a large rash she had developed all over her body in Chile, I was more scared for her life than before the treatment. I consider my fear of needles to be average, but when they are used in ways I have never heard of before, at a University health clinic, the whole picture just sounds wrong to me. However, her rash cleared up soon after. And on her next trip to see the injection giver for strep throat, I was very impressed to see how quickly she recovered once again.

I personally have avoided the injection. Here in Panama, antibiotics run about $7 per 500mg pill. The injection: $7. So, pick your poison. Call me traditional, but I personally am a fan of oral medication that I have had prescribed to me in the past by doctors in the United States.

About Author

Andrew Cowan lives and works in Panama with a Panama Real Estate Company as well as Yahoo Panama.

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-andrew-cowan-4387.html