Antimicrobial Agents

Introduction

Antimicrobial agents include biostatic antimicrobials that inhibit the growth of microorganisms and the micro-biocidal agents that kill the microbes. Examples include antibiotics that prevent and treat bacterial infections by inhibiting bacterial growth or killing the bacteria. Synthetic antimicrobials target specific microorganisms such as viruses or fungi. Lastly, semi-synthetic antimicrobial agents are chemically modified antibiotics like amoxicillin or methicillin (Kapoor et al, 2017).  Antimicrobial Agents Essay Paper

Categories of Antimicrobial Agents

Aminoglycosides: These antimicrobial agents act by inhibiting protein synthesis and therefore they stop the bacteria from producing proteins necessary for survival. They are referred to as bactericidal antibiotics due to their ability to kill bacteria directly.

Fluoroquinolones: Fluoroquinolones act by inhibiting type II DNA topoisomerases; this is the DNA that the bacteria use to replicate and synthesize their mRNAs for transcription. Therefore, Fluoroquinolones act by inhibiting bacterial replication and they are mostly used to treat respiratory infections and urinary tract infections (Ullah & Ali, 2016).

Cephalosporins: These are bactericidal that act by inhibiting the enzymes within the bacterial cell was and hence disrupts cell synthesis for the bacteria.  Cephalosporins act against Gram +ve and Gram-ve bacteria. Examples include cefazolin, ceftriaxone, cefadroxil and cefdinir etc (Ullah & Ali, 2016).

Macrolides: Macrolides mechanism of action is through inhibition of protein synthesis in bacteria by targeting 50S subunit of the ribosome. They are bacteriostatic broad-spectrum antibiotics that act against numerous gram +ve (Ullah & Ali, 2016).

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Penicillin: They inhibit transpeptidase and this prevents the catalysis of cell wall biosynthesis, and thus killing the bacteria. They are mostly used in the treatment of UTI and skin infections (Ullah & Ali, 2016).  Antimicrobial Agents Essay Paper

Comparison of Viral and Bacterial Infections

Just like their names suggest, viral infections are caused by viruses while bacterial infections are caused by bacteria. Bacteria reproduce through cell division and some of them are not harmful to the body and only pathogenic bacteria are harmful to the body. Viruses are non-living organisms and therefore they require a living host for multiplication and survival (Iikura et al, 2015). When the virus gets the body, it starts multiplication and reproduction and the new viruses may end up killing the host cells. Unlike viruses, bacteria can survive independently within or outside the body. Some examples of bacterial infections are tuberculosis, throat infections, and UTI, while examples of viral infections are HIV, hepatitis, sinusitis and common cold. Finally, while antiviral antibiotics are utilized in the treatment of some viral infections, antibacterial antibiotics are utilized to treat bacterial infections (Iikura et al, 2015).

Importance of Proper Identification of Viral and Bacterial

Proper identification of viral and bacterial infections and causative agents is important in selecting the specific treatment agent in order to avoid drug resistance. This is because when the wrong antimicrobial agent is administered for the wrong infection; it does not only fail to treat the existing infection but also poses the risk of an individual developing resistance for the administered antimicrobial (Pankhurst et al, 2016). Moreover, improper identification of the causative infection agent fails to target the existing microbes in the body and such microbes may evolve and become resistant as well. Lastly, proper identification of the specific microbe and infection ensures that the correct vaccination and immunization is administered and therefore prevents and controls such microorganisms from causing infections (Richardson, 2017).

References

Cheng G, Dai M, Ahmed S, Hao H, wang X & Yuan Z. (2016). Antimicrobial Drugs in Fighting against Antimicrobial Resistance. Front Microbiol. 7(470).

Kapoor G & Saigal & Ashok E. (2017). Action and resistance mechanisms of antibiotics: A guide for clinicians. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 33(3), 300–305.

Iikura M, Hojo M, Koketsu R, Watanabe S, Sato A, Chino H, et al. (2015) The Importance of Bacterial and Viral Infections Associated with Adult Asthma Exacerbations in Clinical Practice. PLoS ONE. 10(4): e0123584

Pankhurst C, Richardson R, Smith A & Wilson M. (2016). Antimicrobial resistance: Antibiotics and consultant oral microbiologist posts. BDJ. 220(15), 2–3.

Richardson LA (2017) Understanding and overcoming antibiotic resistance. PLoS Biol. 15(8): e2003775.

Ullah H & Ali S. (2016). Classification of Anti‐Bacterial Agents and their Functions. Antibacterial Agents. 1(2).  Antimicrobial Agents Essay Paper