What is an antimicrobial?
Q: What is an antimicrobial?
A: An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth.
Q: How are antimicrobial medicines classified?
A: Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against, such as antibiotics used against bacteria and antifungals used against fungi. They can also be classified according to their function, such as microbicidal agents which kill microbes and biostatic agents which stop microbial growth.
Q: What is antimicrobial chemotherapy?
A: Antimicrobial chemotherapy is the use of antimicrobial medicines to treat infection.
Q: What is antimicrobial prophylaxis?
A: Antimicrobial prophylaxis is the use of antimicrobials to prevent infection.
Q: What are some examples of common types of antimicrobials?
A: Examples of common types of antimicrobials include disinfectants (such as bleach), antiseptics (which are applied to living tissue and help reduce infection during surgery), and antibiotics (which kill microorganisms within the body).
Q: How has the meaning of "antibiotic" changed over time?
A: The term "antibiotic" originally described only those creations that came from living microorganisms but now it also applies to synthetic agents, such as sulfonamides or fluoroquinolones. The term was also only applied to antibacterials, but its meaning has widened to include all antimicrobials.
Q: How are antibacterial agents further categorized?
A: Antibacterial agents can be further grouped into bactericidal agents, which kill bacteria, and bacteriostatic agents, which slow down or stall bacterial growth.
