Antibiotic therapy

Antibiotic therapy treats bacterial infections with medicines that kill bacteria or inhibit their growth. Its success depends on matching treatment to the infection while limiting harm and resistance.

Antibiotic: A substance that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotic therapy uses these medicines to treat bacterial infection.
Empiric therapy: Treatment begun before the causative organism or its susceptibilities are known. Clinicians often start antibiotics before culture results are available.
Antimicrobial resistance: The ability of microorganisms to survive or grow despite exposure to drugs that would normally inhibit or kill them. Antibiotic exposure selects for resistant bacteria, making future treatment harder.
Antiviral drug: A medicine that prevents viral replication or reduces viral disease. Antiviral drugs treat viral infections, which antibiotics do not cure.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing: Laboratory testing that measures whether a microorganism is inhibited by particular antimicrobial drugs. Results can identify which antibiotics are likely to work against an infection.
Targeted therapy: Treatment selected to act against an identified cause of disease. It narrows antibiotic choice once microbiology clarifies the infection.
Clostridioides difficile infection: An intestinal infection caused by toxin-producing Clostridioides difficile bacteria. Antibiotics can disrupt gut microbes and increase the risk of this infection.
Antifungal drug: A medicine that kills fungi or inhibits their growth. Fungal infections require antifungal treatment rather than antibiotics.
Minimum inhibitory concentration: The lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that visibly prevents microbial growth under specified laboratory conditions. It helps characterize bacterial susceptibility and inform drug selection.
Prophylactic antibiotic: An antibiotic given to prevent infection rather than treat an established infection. Some antibiotic use prevents infection around surgery or after specific exposures.

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