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The Mayo Clinic itself has said that most chronic sinus infections are caused by fungus, not bacteria. Doesn't it sound odd then to treat a sinus infection with antibiotics since antibiotics are by definition a mycotoxin (fungal poison)? If you do take them , I suggest taking probiotics as well. Wondering if natural antifungals would help.

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kim123, there are several problems with your assertions above.

1) Zippo said she'd been sick since Friday, not that she was having chronic problems. An illness of about a week's duration is not "chronic." If the infection is caused by bacteria and of short duration (generally described as "acute"), the right antibiotic which may be made from a fungus will still cure it.

Fungus is not intrinsically a bad thing. Those who are interested can click the link below to read a relatively easy-reading and short article about how penicillin is synthesized from a common bread mold and how it kills bacteria. I used penicillin as the example because most folks are very familiar with it.

http://www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/458_19.html

2) It's long been my understanding that not all antibiotics come from funguses. This page on the Utah State University website confirms that "Many antibiotics today are produced by non fungal microorganisms." Even if one believes one has a "fungus problem," there's not necessarily a need to avoid all antibiotics for that reason.

http://juniorengineering.usu.edu/workshops/germs/germs.php

3) I am dubious about your statement, "the MayoClinic itself said that...". The article I read about chronic sinusitis at MayoClinic.com actually said "some experts" believe this. It did not say that the experts were affiliated with the Mayo Clinic, or that the Mayo Clinic itself had endorsed the unidentified experts' theory.

http://mayoclinic.com/health/chronic-sinusitis/DS00232/DSECTION=2

4) The Mayo Clinic article about chronic sinusitis goes on to say that,

"These fungi are present in virtually everyone. However, sufferers of chronic sinusitis may react to the fungi by producing cytokines or elevated levels of eosinophils in the sinuses...."

UT-Houston Medical School has a (kind of heavy on the sciency-y stuff) webpage explaining the role of cytokines and eosinophils in disease processes--what you are saying is a "fungus" problem is arguably more properly described as an allergy.

http://medic.uth.tmc.edu/hcprof/00000770.htm

So I would say, zippo: take the antibiotics prescribed (unless you can show the doc a valid reason not to), and take the probiotics. And don't worry about crossing any other bridges unless/until you come to them.

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