Order 818901: Qualitative research evaluation

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Running Head: ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS 1

ANTIMICROBIAL ANGENTS

Antimicrobial agents

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Categories of Antimicrobial Agents

Antimicrobial is substance of natural, synthetic or semisynthetic origin that inhibits the growth and development of microorganisms or kill them. They do not cause any harm to the patient. Antimicrobial agents are grouped in several ways including, mode of action, the effect on bacteria and spectrum of activity (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2005). Under the spectrum of activity, antibiotics are further grouped into the broad spectrum and narrow spectrum antibacterial. Broad spectrum antibacterial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive organisms while narrow-spectrum act against particular species of bacteria since they have limited activity (Pucci & Bush, 2013). Under mode of action, they are classified based on the part of the cell they act on, for instance, there are those that target the cell wall, cell membrane, and protein synthesis.

Viral Versus Bacteria Infections

The major difference between the two is the causative agents. Bacterial infections are caused are caused by bacteria while viral infections are caused by viruses (Tortora et al., 2004). However, the major difference comes in treat since treatment antibiotics can only act against or kill bacteria but cannot kill or act against viruses. Viral infection infections are caused by non-living organisms which require a host cell to survive (Tortora et al., 2004). On contrary, bacterial the causative agents for bacterial infections are much larger microorganisms. Bacteria are living single cells existing in the different environment. Not all bacteria are harmful to the body, there are those that are important to the body of the host. On the other hand, virus cause infections immediately they enter the host’s body. Another is that most of the bacterial infections can be healed or cleared through doctor’s prescription while antiviral medication can only help ease the symptoms but not permanently clear them.

Importance of Proper Identification of Viral and Bacterial Infections

A number of viral and bacterial infections have similar signs and symptoms but different treatment. As such, it is important to identify these infections correctly since antibiotics work for bacterial infections only and antivirals for viral infections only. Treating a viral infection with antibiotic may cause antibiotic resistance problem since antibiotics are infective for viral infections. This can further lead to toxicity and allergic reactions. Knowing the exact cause of an infection can help healthcare workers treat a patient accordingly knowing that causative agent is either a virus or a bacteria (Goff & File, 2016). This prevents the wrong prescription which can result in death. Additionally, each antiviral agent or antimicrobial agent has its particular function and modes of action within the patient body and thus wrong use definitely leads to other drug abuse complication.

For a successful chemotherapy, specific diagnosis must be done at all cost. Treatment should be aimed at a specific disease-causing organism whenever possible. This enables the physician to clear doubt between the best drugs to administer to a patient. Finally, administering the wrong drug to treat an infection is the leading cause of drug resistance which may impair treatment of such diseases in future (Goff & File, 2016).

References

Bryskier, A., & Antibiotiques, agents antibactériens et antifongiques. (2005). Antimicrobial agents: Antibacterials and antifungals. Washington, DC: ASM Press.

Goff, D. A., & File, T. M. (2016). The evolving role of antimicrobial stewardship in management of multidrug resistant infections. Infectious disease clinics of North America, 30(2), 539-551.

Pucci, M. J., & Bush, K. (2013). Investigational antimicrobial agents of 2013.Clinical microbiology reviews, 26(4), 792-821.

Tortora, G. J., Funke, B. R., Case, C. L., & Johnson, T. R. (2004). Microbiology: an introduction (Vol. 9). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings.