Antibiotics Combat Infectious Bacteria

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Introduction:

Antibiotics have the ability to kill or hinder the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics contain compounds that are naturally produced by organisms to combat diseases caused by microbes. Discovery of penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming became the first stepping stone of many new antibiotics of today’s modern medicine. Antibiotics typically invade the very components that make up bacteria, such as cell walls and metabolic pathways (Sato et al., 2014). However, frequent mutations of bacteria cause today’s strains to become more resistant. One of many ways which bacteria undergo mutation is through horizontal transfer of genes (Lindsay J.A., 2013). The war against disease is a battle that humanity has fought for centuries, and only recently has the development of penicillin switched that tide of war in our favor. However, with the advent of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and even vancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus, the prospect of this battle is not promising (Bobenchik et al., 2013). Thus, it is crucial to test bacteria for antibiotic resistance to utilize antibiotics that battle with bacteria properly.

The Kirby-Bauer experiment supplements the knowledge of sensitivity and selection of antibiotics to combat infectious bacteria using appropriate antibiotics. It helps to determine which antibiotic is resistant or susceptible to certain bacteria (Barry et al., 1979). Twelve different types of antibiotics were dispensed on a large Mueller-Hinton agar plate containing Enterobacteriaceae. These antibiotics include AmC-30, AZM-15, CF-30, CIP-5, GM-10, P-10, PIP-100, PB-300, RA-5, SD-0.25, Te-30, and Va-30. Successful antibiotic effects will be seen through clear and circular inhibition zones around the ant...

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...cial roles in modern medicine. But the emergence of microbial resistance has increasingly limited their effectiveness in the past two decades (Schmidt, 1994). The overuse of antibiotics in clinical practices and everyday life substances, such as antibacterial soap, has been found responsible for such resistance. Due to frequent mutations of microbes, researchers and scientists have to consider multiple strategies to combat microbes. As a society, we need to thrive to understand the effects of antibiotics and develop newer methods to contain antimicrobials. Furthermore, we need to emphasize the danger of unfinished antibiotics that could potentially lead to higher percentage of microbial resistance. Preventing and developing novel methods to impede the spread of antibiotic resistance is a way to keep today’s antibiotics effective and to sustain future generations.

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