Microbiology

Microbiology Study Guide

Antivirals should be differentiated from viricides. Viricides are not really medicated drugs but are the substances that destroy the viruses present in and out of the body. Some diseases that are treated using antiviral drugs include HIV, herpes viruses, hepatitis B and C, and influenza viruses A and B. However, continuous research is being conducted to extend the antiviral to other pathogens. It should be noted that since viruses replicate using the cells of the host, developing new, safe, and effective antiviral drugs, without causing any harm to the host tissues and cells, is a complicated task. Also, the variations in the viruses are huge, which adds to the difficulty in making antiviral drugs. Development of antiviral drugs requires the understanding of the function and structure of viruses and techniques to find new, effective drugs. Thus, biomedical scientists must possess knowledge about the molecular and genetic functions of organisms. Antifungal Agents An antifungal medication is a medication used to treat fungal infections, such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (thrush), and serious systemic infections like cryptococcal meningitis and others. Antifungal drugs can be acquired with a prescription or are sometimes available over-the- counter. These drugs do not pose any harmful threat on the host cells and generally operate after exploiting the differences between fungal cells and mammalian. However, it is tough to design the drugs for combating fungi cells since they are similar to the human cells at the molecular level. Hence, the probability of causing harm to the human cells increases, and therefore, these drugs are likely to have certain side effects. It is imperative to use antifungal medications with care or they can prove to be life threatening. Anti-Parasitic Agents The human body can be attacked by many parasitic agents, which causes infections and diseases like nematodes, cestodes, trematodes, infectious protozoa, and amoebas. In order to treat these diseases, the person should take a proper course of anti-parasitic medications. Antibiotics (Penicillin and Others) The word antibiotic comes from the Greek part anti meaning “against” and bios meaning “life.” Antibiotics are also known as antibacterial. They are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria. Penicillin was the first antibiotic that was successfully designed to treat anti-bacterial infections and diseases. Some antibiotics related to penicillin are ampicillin, amoxicillin, and benzylpenicilllin. Antibiotics perform a dual role in combating various infectious microorganisms. Bacteriostatic antibiotics help stop bacterial growth and then the bactericidal antibiotics kill and eliminate bacteria from the body. Penicillin is a bactericidal and helps kill the affecting bacteria. Antibacterial antibiotics can be categorized by their mechanism of action, chemical structure, and activity spectrum. The target of these antibiotics is either the functions of the bacteria or the process of their growth. Most bactericidal antibiotics, like penicillin and cephalosporins, aim at the cell wall

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