Parents, antibiotics won't fight colds.(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

The dawn of winter escalates an ongoing tussle in the nation's pediatrician offices: Parents demanding antibiotics for their children's colds and doctors saying no, they do no good.

During this cold and flu season, however, physicians expect the discussion to be a notch louder than usual because of the national scare over anthrax, smallpox, etc.

All the attention on bioterrorism and the antibiotic Cipro has made some parents extra-sensitive to any infection, and doctors believe that will make them more insistent on securing a prescription when their youngsters get sick.

"We are all anticipating that it will happen, that we will get more requests …