Antibiotic

An antibiotic is medicine that fights bacterial infections, by killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria. There are two types of antibiotics; bactericidal and bacteriostatic. A bactericidal antibiotic destroys bacteria, and a bacteriostatic inhibits the growth of bacteria by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism.Used properly, antibiotics can save lives.

Anti-bacterial antibiotics are categorized based on their target specificity: narrow-spectrum antibiotics target particular types of bacteria, such as Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria, while broad-spectrum antibiotics affect a wide range of bacteria.

There are several classes of antibiotics:
1) Aminoglycosides: gentamicine, amikacin, neomicyn, streptomycin, etc. Efective in the treatment against infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella particularly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Effective against Aerobic bacteria.
2) Cephalosporins: Cefadroxil, Cefazolin, etc.
3) Macrolides: azithromycin, clarithromicyn, erythromicyn, etc. They are used in the treatment of streptococcal infections, syphilis, respiratory infections, mycoplasmal infections, Lyme disease.
4) Penicillins: amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, etc. Used against a wide range of infections; penicillin is used against streptococcal infections, syphilis, and Lyme disease.