Antibiotic

An antibiotic is a substance that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections by targeting processes that bacteria need to survive or reproduce.

Bacterial cell wall: A protective structure outside the bacterial cell membrane that helps maintain shape and resist osmotic pressure. Penicillins and related drugs weaken this structure, causing susceptible bacteria to rupture.
Antimicrobial stewardship: Coordinated efforts to use antimicrobial medicines appropriately and preserve their effectiveness. Stewardship limits avoidable antibiotic exposure and improves treatment choices.
Antimicrobial resistance: The ability of microorganisms to survive exposure to medicines that once inhibited or killed them. Bacterial resistance can make infections harder to treat after antibiotic exposure selects resistant variants.
Paul Ehrlich: A German physician and scientist who pioneered immunology and chemotherapy with selective antimicrobial compounds. His search for compounds that harmed pathogens more than hosts helped establish antimicrobial chemotherapy.
Antiviral drug: A medicine that inhibits the replication or activity of viruses. Antibiotics target bacteria and do not treat viral infections such as influenza.
Protein synthesis inhibitor: A drug that blocks ribosomal production of proteins. Many antibiotics act by binding bacterial ribosomes and disrupting protein production.
Empirical therapy: Treatment begun before the cause of an illness is definitively identified. Clinicians often choose initial antibiotics from likely pathogens, then revise treatment as evidence arrives.
Horizontal gene transfer: The movement of genetic material between organisms other than through parent-to-offspring inheritance. Bacteria can spread resistance genes across strains and species through gene transfer.
Salvarsan: An arsenic-containing drug introduced in 1910 to treat syphilis. It was an early successful antimicrobial treatment, although it targeted a bacterium-like spirochete with a drug often classed as chemotherapy.
Antifungal drug: A medicine that treats fungal infections by inhibiting or killing fungi. Fungi are eukaryotes with different cellular structures, so antibacterial drugs generally do not treat them.

Linked from 72 pages