I never really understood the danger of bacterial infections until a couple of my goldfish (don't laugh, these were BIG fish that I'd had for about 5 years) went "septic," meaning that they had a bacterial infection that spread throughout their body. I did not treat them with the correct antibiotics in time and they died. That is what used to happen to people before the days of antibiotics. But in my household we try to get by without antibiotics whenever possible. Unfortunately, the darn allergies make me prone to sinus infections, and sometimes those won't go away without help.
