antibiotics are products natural or synthetic that act by killing or preventing the development of pathogenic microorganisms. Generally, the term is used to refer, in a more restricted way, to drugs capable of acting on bacteria. Currently, several antibiotics are available on the market, one of the best known being the so-called penicillin, which is considered the first antibiotic produced on an industrial scale.
Read too: Diseases caused by bacteria
→ Types
Antibiotics are substances used to inhibit the development of pathogens and can be active against bacteria it's against fungi. Antibiotics active on bacteria (antibacterials) can be classified into two groups using as a criterion its form of action:
Bactericides: are those that have an action that causes the bacteria to die.
Bacteriostatics: are responsible for preventing microbial growth.
→ how they act
Antibiotics act in different ways on pathogenic microorganisms. Considering antibiotics that act on bacteria, we have those that destroy the bacteria and those that prevent its multiplication.
The action mechanisms are varied, and the following can be cited: a inhibition of RNA synthesis; The inhibition of protein synthesis; O blocking DNA replication; The interference with bacterial membrane permeability, between others. In the case of penicillin, for example, its mechanism of action is to block the active site of a certain enzyme used by bacteria in the production of their cell walls.
→ Bacterial resistance
Loveantibiotic administration, which contributes to the origin of Bacterial resistance, is currently a serious health problem that has been responsible for a death series, annually. This resistance makes the previously used antibiotics, to treat an infection caused by some agent, become inefficient.
Bacteria that were previously susceptible to that drug, no longer respond in the same way, and, consequently, new medicines must be used to destroy that agent, which may not yet be available, either on the market or in the hospitals.
Superbugs can be selected due to misuse of antibacterials.
Bacterial resistance can be a feature already present in certain species of bacteria or acquired as a result of mutations during the multiplication process, due to mutagenic agents, or by acquisition of genetic material found in another organism and transferred by transfer mechanisms genetic.
→ Management
Currently, the number of resistant bacteria has increased, mainly as a consequence of the disease.the administration of antibiotics.
Incorrect doses and inadequate treatment time are ways to select resistant bacteria. This is because, when antibiotic use starts, the first doses will eliminate more fragile bacteria. Over time, resistant bacteria are also eliminated. If the treatment is interrupted before recommended, the resistant bacteria survive and pass their characteristics on to their descendants, making treatment difficult.
Therefore, the increase in resistant bacteria can be avoided by adopting some simple measures, such as:
Never use antibiotics without a doctor's or dentist's recommendation.
Use the drug for the specified time.
Always obey doses and schedules established by the doctor or dentist.
- Antibiotics and alcohol
Many drugs have alcohol interactions, being necessary to observe the recommendations presented in the medicine package insert. The use of some antibiotics, in association with alcohol, can trigger, for example, palpitation, chest pain, headache, nausea, vomiting and breathing difficulty. Other antibiotics may still have their reduced effect by the use of alcoholic beverages due to a greater excretion of the drug. Therefore, the use of alcoholic beverages, together with antibiotics, is not recommended.
To use antibiotics, it is essential to follow the medical recommendations and those on the package inserts.
It is also worth noting that other recommendations are important when it comes to antibiotics, such as observing whether this type of medication should or should not be taken on an empty stomach and check its interaction with others substances. All information about the use of antibiotics can be obtained from the doctor or dentist and reading the instructions in the package insert.
→ History
THE penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming, in 1928, and described as an agent with antibiotic power, one year later. Its use for this purpose, however, only began after 1940, mainly as a result of Second World War, when many needed treatment after infections in their wounds.
Fleming discovered penicillin by chance, and its discovery, without a doubt, changed the course of medicine greatly reducing deaths from bacterial infections. The researcher discovered the antibiotic when he verified that some of his bacteria cultures, after a few days without the necessary care, they were contaminated by a type of fungus which had a certain ability to prevent bacterial growth. Fleming noticed that the fungus, which was identified as of the genus penicillium, it was capable of producing a substance that destroyed bacteria. At that time, penicillin was discovered, an antibiotic capable of killing various types of bacteria.
Penicillin is produced by a fungus.
O first human patient to be treated with penicillin was a policeman who had a serious blood infection in 1940. Since then, several people are treated, until the present day, with the famous substance.
Be sure to read:Discovery of penicillin
