Antibiotics—The Best Solution for Infections
Antibiotics are the best solution for the infections. Antibiotics are defined as the living agents used to kill the microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, or protozoa. In Greek, antibiotics means against the living. So, in simple words, antibiotics are the microorganisms used to kill the harmful microorganisms. Antibiotics are said as the powerful medicines used to fight with the bacterial infections, when all other different methods have failed to act against the infecting bacteria. Antibiotics are that’s why termed as life saving drugs. Antibiotics either kill the bacteria or restrict their growth completely. Antibiotics are drugs derived wholly or partially from certain microorganisms and are used to treat bacterial or fungal infections.
Antibiotics are mainly obtained from the bacterial sources i.e. bacterial microorganisms. Some antibiotics are even obtained from the fungal strains but they are very few. It is very necessary to understand that whether to use the antibiotic or not to treat the infection because antibiotic is found to inactive against the viral infections. You should note that particular antibiotic is used to treat the particular infections, if used in the wrong way can cause severe problems. So, please consult your doctor before using any of the antibiotics. Doctor only can decide that which antibody should be used against which infection.
Antibiotics were first discovered in 1928 by the Alexander Fleming, a bacteriology professor at St. Mary’s hospital in London. He was growing the colonies of bacteria in the Petri-dishes and found that the area surrounding a gray-green mold was clear. The area of the bacteria colony near the mold appeared not to be growing. Further studies revealed that the mold, Penicillium, killed most varieties of bacteria. He named the first antibiotic as the Penicillin, as it was obtained from the mould Penicillium. Thus, antibiotics were defined by him as the chemicals produced by or derived from microorganisms used to kill the microorganisms. In 1943 American microbiologist Selman A. Waksman (1888–1973) discovered a first antibiotic from fungus that produced a powerful antibiotic substance. He named it streptomycin. This original antibiotic, which was produced in quantity in 1944, helped in treating such lethal diseases as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, bubonic plague, and bacterial meningitis
Each different type of antibiotic affects different bacteria in different ways. For example, an antibiotic might inhibit a bacterium’s ability to turn glucose into energy, or its ability to construct its cell wall. When this happens, the bacterium dies instead of reproducing. Somewhere after the end of the First World War, antibiotics were used in humans only after performing the clinical trials. But, that time it was not clear that particular antibiotics should be used for the particular antigen affecting the humans. The results of antibiotic usage were not satisfactory, but once the doctors understood the fact, using particular antibiotic for particular organism, on the basis of the laboratory tests. Finally antibiotics were found to be very effective against these causal organisms. Thus, the research in the field of antibiotic started more vigorously and the more antibiotics were discovered.
Infections that are treated by the antibiotics are mostly found to be caused by the bacterial, fungal, or viral organisms. Most common infections observed in the humans are caused by the bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, etc). The diseases caused by the bacteria include tonsillitis, gonorrhea, pneumonia, tuberculosis, whooping cough, etc. Not all antibiotics work in the same way. Some antibiotics kill bacteria, these are known as bactericidal antibiotics, and others just prevent the bacteria from growing, these are known as bacteriostatic. Different groups or classes of antibiotics have different actions on bacteria. The main groups of bacteria are Aminoglycosides, Cephalosporins, Fluoroquinolones, Macrolides, Penicillins, and Tetracyclines.
To prove that antibiotics are the best treatments for the infections a study was carried out in which 100 patients suffering with the infection were treated with the antibiotics and 100 patients suffering with the infection were treated with the other medicines. It was noted that the 100 men treated with the antibiotics were relieved from the infections in about the 4 to 5 days whereas the other man fail to get relief from the infections. Thus, this study proved the fact that antibiotics are the best solution for the infections. Please note that you can use antibiotics like Amoxicillin or Ciprofloxacin to treat the bacterial infections, but please consult the doctor before using these medicines.
