THURSDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they may be able to prevent the tissue damage that lung diseases, such as emphysema, cause by treating the patient with doxycycline, an antibiotic commonly used to treat acne.

In experiments on mice, doxycycline -- which is also used to treat common ailments such as sinusitis and urinary tract infections -- appears to counter low levels of VEGF, a protein that helps to maintain healthy lung tissue but is in unusually low levels in people with emphysema.

WEDNESDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- In communities with moderate levels of the eye disease trachoma, one or two rounds of high coverage mass treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin may be sufficient to eliminate the infection, researchers say.

(HealthDay News) - Antibiotics are meant to treat bacterial infections, but they aren't effective against viruses such as those that cause the common cold.

To prevent overuse of antibiotics, it's important to only take them for bacterial infections.

Here are suggestions on how to use antibiotics properly, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation:

* Only take antibiotics as recommended by your doctor. Never take any antibiotic that was prescribed for someone else, or that was prescribed for you to treat a different illness.