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An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). [1] Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals are used against fungi. They can also be classified ...
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of such infections. [1] [2] They may either kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria.
β-Lactam antibiotics are indicated for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. At first, β-lactam antibiotics were mainly active only against gram-positive bacteria, yet the recent development of broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics active against various gram-negative organisms has increased their usefulness.
It caused more than 100,000 deaths worldwide attributable to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. MRSA is any strain of S. aureus that has developed (through natural selection ) or acquired (through horizontal gene transfer ) a multiple drug resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics .
Tetracyclines are generally used in the treatment of infections of the urinary tract, respiratory tract, and the intestines and are also used in the treatment of chlamydia, especially in patients allergic to β-lactams and macrolides; however, their use for these indications is less popular than it once was due to widespread development of resistance in the causative organisms.
The antimicrobial spectrum of an antibiotic can be determined by testing its antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microbes in vitro. Nonetheless, the range of microorganisms which an antibiotic can kill or inhibit in vivo may not always be the same as the antimicrobial spectrum based on data collected in vitro. [2] [5]
This synthetic method involves covalently linking antimicrobial agents that contain functional groups with high antimicrobial activity, such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, or amino groups to a variety of polymerizable derivatives, or monomers before polymerization. The antimicrobial activity of the active agent may be either reduced or enhanced by ...
Bacitracin is a polypeptide antibiotic derived from a bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, and acts against bacteria through the inhibition of cell wall synthesis. [6] It does this by inhibiting the removal of phosphate from lipid compounds, thus deactivating its function to transport peptidoglycan; the main component of bacterial cell membranes, to the microbial cell wall.