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.
