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Antibiotics: Antibiotics Work
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Antibiotics are substances that inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria that cause infection. Antibiotics do not work against viral diseases such as thecommon cold or influenza. The word "antibiotics" comes from the Greek anti("against") and bios("life"). Antibiotics have been used since the 1930s to prevent or treat a wide variety of infections in plants, animals,and humans. Before that time, there were few effective ways of combating microbial infections (infections caused by microorganisms). Illnesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever were essentially untreatable.
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Antibiotics can be applied directly to the skin (topically) or taken by mouth (orally). Topical antibiotics kill bacteria that are on the skin. Oral antibiotics kill bacteria in the skin pores, and work best if started at high doses. When symptoms improve, the dose is then tapered off and a topical antibiotic is used.
Antibiotics only work against infections caused by bacteria. Bacterial infections are much less common than viral infections. Most coughs and colds are of viral origin so antibiotics should not be prescribed for these. Antibiotics should only used when absolutely necessary, because:
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Antibiotics are usually taken orally but can ... be given by injection, or applied to the affected part of the body such as the skin, eyes or ears. The drugs begin to tackle most infections within a few hours. It is vital to take the whole course of treatment to prevent recurrence of the infection. Sometimes bacteria become 'resistant' to an antibiotic you have been taking, meaning that the drug will no longer work. Resistance tends to occur when the bacterial infection responsible for the symptoms is not completely cured, even if the symptoms have cleared up. Some of the residual bacteria, having been exposed to, but not killed by, the antibiotic are more likely to grow into an infection that can survive that particular antibiotic.
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Antibiotics were further developed in Britain following the re-discovery of Penicillin in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. In 1939, Rene Dubos isolated gramicidin, one of first antibiotics to be manufactured commercially used during World War II proving highly effective in the treatment of wounds and ulcers.[4] More than ten years later, Ernst Chain and Howard Florey became interested in his work, and came up with the purified form of penicillin. The three shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Howard credited Dubos for reviving his research on penicillin[4]
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Antibiotics are classified as narrow-spectrum drugs when they work against only a few types of bacteria. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, on the other hand, attack many types of bacteria. However, the danger with broad-spectrum antibiotics is that they are more likely to promote antibiotic resistance. For that reason, narrow-spectrum antibiotics, which often cost less, are used wheneverpossible. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are generally reserved for infections that are unresponsive to narrow-spectrum drugs.
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Antibiotics Work