Interesting article Blast, thanks for posting.

In response to some of the responses that were responding to your post;

I've always been leery of the idea of individuals stocking antibiotics for an emergency, though I do understand the rationale for it, and haven't come to a personal decision on it as of yet though I'm leaning to "nay".

The pro's:

1) Peace of mind.
As often is the case, peace of mind is just a placebo.

2) May have the correct antibiotic for the specific infection during an emergency.

The con's:

1) Peace of mind.
Thinking one has something covered can increase the likelihood of letting one's guard down or delaying seeking treatment. "I don't need to go see the doctor, I got a truck-load of Cipro in the bunker out back...."

2) Inappropriate use:
Having a source of antibiotics in the house is tempting to use when one "thinks" they have a bacterial infection.

It was not uncommon for physicians to prescribe antibiotics for a patient coming to their office with a cold (virus) just to shut them up. Folks in America tend to not feel they've gotten their "money's worth" unless they walk out of the doctor's office with a prescription of some sort.

Given the rise of drug resistant bacteria, I've seen the majority of physicians clamp down on that practice, but the publics' perception is still the same in many cases.

3) Wrong tool : wrong job:
As someone pointed out there are several different groups of bacteria. Gram positive rods, gram positive cocci, gram positive cocci in clusters or chains, gram negative rods, gram negative cocci, ..... And it's not possible to know for sure which one got you and then you have to run sensitivities to see which antibiotic will work on it.

You could have Staph. aureus, or you could have Methicillin Resistant Staph aureus (MRSA)..... in which case oral antibiotics ain't going to do you a whole lotta good.

I think that putting effort and time into prevention would be a wiser course of action. Cleaning and hygiene supplies, keeping oneself as healthy as possible to stoke up one's immunity,...

The best way anyone can prevent the spread of infection is simply washing one's hands.