Wouldn't that be a marvellous thing! I found this article very readable and providing a broad view on the use of Antibiotics and Iodine as well as magnesium chloride, vit C etc..

http://www.naturalnews.com/022800.html
(I copied just a few paragraphs here):

Antibiotics have fulfilled their anti–biotic anti-life role leaving a long trail of death and suffering in the wake of their use.

Diseases include measles, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, pneumonia, influenza, whooping cough, diphtheria and polio. All were in decline for several decades before the introduction of Antibiotics or vaccines - Dr. Lawrence Wilson.

Iodine offers a serious and potent replacement for much of the antibiotics that are literally destroying people's lives and can be used safely with children. Parents, who chose not to dose their kids with dangerous vaccines will be glad to know that Iodine can be very effective against a host of viral infections that medical officials insist threaten children.

Though it kills 90 percent of bacteria on the skin within 90 seconds, its use as an Antibiotic has been ignored. Iodine exhibits activity against bacteria, molds, yeasts, protozoa, and many viruses; indeed, of all antiseptic preparations suitable for direct use on humans and animals and upon tissues, only iodine is capable of killing all classes of pathogens: gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, yeasts, viruses and protozoa. Most bacteria are killed within 15 to 30 seconds of contact.

Iodine is by far the best antibiotic, antiviral and antiseptic of all time - Dr. David Derry

"My husband Ron had a small infection at the base of the nail. This very quickly turned nasty and our doctor agreed it looked like gout. Three weeks later Ron heard back from his Doctor who was in a mad panic saying Ron had septicemia. On seeing the surgeon that same day the surgeon wanted to go in and cut the finger open end for end and look at the finger and that she would probably have to take it off anyway. Finally the Nascent Iodine we ordered arrived (my husband was refusing to take antibiotics) He started on quite a hefty dose of 15 drops while continuing to apply magnesium chloride transdermally."

"Two days after starting the iodine there was feeling starting to regenerate and pain again in the finger and Ron thought it looked less discolored. Then the following day the swelling had started to go down and the normal healthy pinkness was returning at the base of the finger. Over a period of days it has progressively improved with no other treatment than the iodine and magnesium chloride. We also then made a poultice with a mixture of comfrey, honey and garlic for a few days, then the Nascent Iodine dripped into a goldenseal ointment."

Magnesium chloride is the only form of magnesium known to have anti-infectious properties. When it comes to fighting infections, iodine and magnesium chloride are a dynamic duo that should not be overlooked by allopathic or naturopathic physicians or by anyone else. I talked a few months ago to a missionary in Africa who was using iodine (in the atomic or detoxified form) to successfully treat malaria. My own children have recently had bad coughs and it is iodine, not dangerous over-the-counter cough medicines I reach for.

"The right dose of Vitamin C will stop every infection in its tracks without needing to use antibiotics" - Dr. Gary Gordon.

Following is a list of the Drug/Substance and the Nutrients which are depleted by that substance:

* Antibiotics - (Nutrients Depleted) Vitamin A, B-12, C, E, K, Biotin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium

* Chelators - Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc

* Anticonvulsants - Vitamin B-2, B-12, C, F, K, Folic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium

* Antidiabetics (Oral) - Vitamin B-2, B-12, C, D, Folic Acid

* Antihistamines - Vitamin C

* Aspirin - Calcium, Folic Acid, Iron, Potassium, C, B Complex

The Journal of the American Medical Association has reported a study on 10,000 women in which women who took over 500 days of antibiotics in a 17 year period (dubbed 25 plus doses) had twice the risk of Breast Cancer as those that took none at all. Even women taking just one had a statistical risk increase to 1.5 times.

According to several studies, obstetricians and gynecologists write 2,645,000 Antibiotic prescriptions every week. Internists prescribe 1,416,000 per week. This works out to 211,172,000 prescriptions annually in the United States, just for these two specialties. Pediatricians prescribe over $500 million worth of antibiotics annually just for one condition, ear infections. Yet topical povidone iodine (PVP-I) is as effective as topical ciprofloxacin, with a superior advantage of having no in vitro drug resistance and the added benefit of reduced cost of treatment.

One out of every 20 patients contracts an infection during a hospital stay in the US. Hospital infections kill an estimated 103,000 people in the United States a year, as many as AIDS, Breast Cancer and auto accidents combined. The vast majority of lethal cases occur in hospitals and nursing homes, where open wounds and punctures provide the opportunistic staph a ready path to the bloodstream and organs. The dangers of infection are worsening as many hospital infections can no longer be cured with common antibiotics.

Children with autism had significantly (2.1-fold) higher levels of mercury in their baby teeth but similar levels of lead and similar levels of zinc. Children with autism also had significantly higher usage of oral antibiotics during their first 12 to 36 months of life. Reporting in the July 11, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers say the use of antibiotics as prevention boosts risks for drug resistance while doing nothing to shield kids from future urinary tract infections (UTIs). Giving antibiotics to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections in small children not only will not help but will hurt these children. Prior use of antibiotics to prevent infection did boost the likelihood of developing a drug-resistant infection by nearly 7.5 times. Indeed, 61 percent of recurrent urinary tract infections were caused by a pathogen with Antibiotic resistance, the researchers pointed out.