Antimicrobial drugs and drug resistance

Antimicrobial drugs and drug resistance

Antimicrobial drug: It is a drug which can used to treat a microbial infection.

Antimicrobial- It is general a group of drugs they are antifungals, antivirals , antibiotics , and antiprotozoal.

Antimicrobial

Antimicrobial is a general term given to substances including medicines that slow the growth of microbes or kill it.

Microbe is a collective name given to viruses (e.g., influenza virus, which causes the flu), bacteria (e.g. Some staph infections which causes by Staphylococcus aureus), parasites (e.g., Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium sp, which make malaria), and fungi (e.g., Candida albicans, which make some yeast infections)

Examples of antimicrobial agents:

Terbinafine or Lamisil - antifungal that treats athlete's foot

Oseltamivir or Tamiflu- antiviral that treats the flu

Tetracycline - one antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections 

Antibiotic

Antibiotic is a medicine designed to kill or slow the growth of fungi and some bacteria. Antibiotics are commonly used to fight against bacterial infections but cannot fight against the infections caused by viruses or bacteria

Example of an antibiotic:

Zithromax (Z-Pak) or Azithromycin 

Vancomycin is the last line of defense for certain methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Antibacterial

Antibacterial is the term given to substances that kill or slow the growth of bacteria when treating human and environmental surfaces. These include substances that aid in proper hygiene.

Examples of antibacterial-containing commercial products are:

Hand soaps, foams, gels etc.

VRE and MRSA

Examples of antimicrobial (drug) resistance:

Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE)

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Drug resistance

Antimicrobial and antibacterial drug resistance is the spatial quality of microbes, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites, to grow in the presence of a drug or chemical that would normally limit its growth or kill it. It reduction in effectiveness of a drug activity such as an antibacterial  or an antimicrobial in curing a disease.

Diagram- It is showing the difference main between drug resistant bacteria and drug non-resistant bacteria.