How Antibiotics Work

How Do Antibiotics Work?

Various types of antibiotics work in either of the following two ways:

1. A Bactericidal antibiotic kills the bacteria generally by either interfering with the formation of the bacterium's cell wall or its cell contents.

Penicillin, daptomycin, fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin and co-trimoxazole are some example of Bactericidal antibiotics.

2. A Bacteriostatic antibiotic stops bacteria from multiplying by interfering with bacterial protein production, DNA replication, or other aspects of bacterial cellular metabolism.

Some Bacteriostatic antibiotics are tetracyclines, sulphonamides, spectinomycin, trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, macrolides and lincosamides.

Antibiotics work against bacterial infections; many of us have used them to treat infections ranging from strep throat to bladder infections and many types of skin infections. But they won't do any good against a viral infection, including colds and most coughs, influenza or gastroenteritis . While all antibiotics will kill or stop the growth of bacteria, not all antibiotics are effective against the same bacteria, and not all antibiotics fight bacteria in the same way.

Most bacteria fall into two types: Gram-positive and Gram-negative. These classifications are based, basically, on the type of cell wall that the bacteria has. Gram-positive bacteria -- such as Streptococcus -- have thin, easily permeable, single-layered cell walls. Gram-negative bacteria -- such as E. coli -- have thicker, less penetrable, two-layer cell walls. For an antibiotic to successfully treat a bacterial infection, it needs to be able to penetrate either or both types of bacterial cell