Antimicrobial

An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobials include drugs, disinfectants, and preservatives that act against bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites.

Antibiotic: A substance that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth; the term is also used for certain antibacterial drugs. Antibiotics are antimicrobials directed against bacteria rather than viruses or other microbes.
Antiseptic: A chemical agent applied to living tissue to reduce or prevent microbial growth. Antiseptics control microbes on skin and other living tissue.
Antibacterial: An agent or property directed against bacteria. Antibacterial action is narrower than antimicrobial action, which can include nonbacterial targets.
Antibiotic resistance: The ability of bacteria to survive or grow despite exposure to antibiotics that would normally inhibit them. It is a major subset of antimicrobial resistance and can make bacterial infections harder to treat.
Antifungal: An agent that kills fungi or inhibits their growth. Antifungals target fungal cells, whose biology differs from bacteria and human cells.
Disinfectant: A chemical agent used on inanimate objects to destroy or reduce microorganisms. Disinfectants apply antimicrobial action to surfaces rather than living tissue.
Antibiotic versus antimicrobial: A comparison of the narrower term antibiotic with the broader term antimicrobial. The terms overlap, but antimicrobial also covers agents against fungi, viruses, and parasites.
Drug resistance: The ability of a biological target or organism to withstand a drug that would normally affect it. Antimicrobial resistance belongs to the broader phenomenon of resistance to drugs.
Antiviral: A drug or other agent that inhibits viral infection or replication. Antivirals interfere with stages of viral replication rather than killing viruses as cells.
Preservative: A substance added to a product to prevent spoilage or degradation during storage. Antimicrobial preservatives limit microbial growth in foods, medicines, and cosmetics.

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