What Are Antimicrobials Used In Medicine?
What are antimicrobials? These are drugs that have the ability to stop the development of various microorganisms. Usually, an antimicrobial agent is effective against a certain type of microorganism. Therefore, there are various effective antimicrobials that fight bacteria, fungi, viruses or parasites.
In this article, we will take a look at the different types of antimicrobials, their uses and their main characteristics.
What are antimicrobials?
Overall, antimicrobials can be categorized into two aspects:
- Their mechanism of action
- The type of microorganism against which they are effective
To better understand what antimicrobials are, we will classify them according to these criteria.
Classification of antimicrobials according to their mechanism of action
- Sterilizers
- Disinfectants
- Antiseptics or chemotherapy
Sterilizers
Disinfectants
Antiseptics and chemotherapy
Classification of antimicrobials according to the type of microorganism attacked
Antibiotics
The term antibiotic refers to a chemical that kills or inhibits the development of certain types of sensitive microorganisms.
As their name suggests, doctors use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. These drugs are used in both veterinary and human medicine. Antibiotics are often associated with antiparasitics and other antimicrobial drugs. In general, the purpose of antibiotic treatment is to kill the microorganism.
It is important to note that self- administration of antibiotics is a serious public health problem. The reason is that bacteria are able to develop mechanisms of resistance to various antibiotics. Therefore, treatments that were initially effective no longer work and antibiotics become ineffective.
Antifungals
antiparasitics
