Antibacterial antibiotics are a substance present in fungi, which inhibits the growth and production of bacterial infections. The discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, was a turning point in medical history, as illnesses that were once perceived as difficult to treat or even fatal, now had a possible treatment. After the discovery of penicillin, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics become common in many different professions. This has resulted in bacteria becoming less easily detected due to structural changes, with some even being multi-resistant, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) (Williams 2014).
Types of antibiotics
Antibiotics were produced in the late 1940s, with 1950s-1970s being the golden age for discovery of antibiotics and overall, antibiotics are classed into 17 groups, with penicillin and vancomycin being two different classes of antibiotics (Zuchora-Walske 2013). Williams (2014) states that ‘antibiotics are classified according the mechanism of action, chemical structure or if of broad or narrow spectrum.’ Board spectrum antibiotics are effective against multiple types of bacteria, while narrow spectrum are only effective against specific, i.e. fewer bacteria. A method of determining antibiotic response to particular bacterium, as well as its cell wall structure is by Gram-staining, which tests the bacteria’s cell wall and its
When penicillin was released to the public in 1944, it was a miracle drug. Infections that had been killers were suddenly treatable. Doctors recommended it generously, both for illnesses that needed it and illnesses that didn’t. Before long, however, it took much stronger doses to see penicillin’s effects. When the antibiotic arms race began in 1944, most physicians assumed that new antibiotics would be discovered or created to keep up with the evolving resistance in bacteria, but the bacteria are constantly evolving new defenses and doctors are starting to run low on antibiotic ammunition. MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is one of many types of bacteria
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the digestive system of humans and animals. Although it is mainly harmless and helps promote a healthy digestive system, some strains can be pathogenic and cause illness such as diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory infections and even pneumonia. What makes E. coli pathogenic is the release of a toxin called Shiga. These are often referred to a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). This particular strain lives harmlessly in the guts of animals, particularly cattle. However, when in contact with a human, it results in illness. Pathogenic E. coli is usually caught when humans ingest invisible amounts of feces that can be found in food or water. (CDC, 2014) Antibiotics may be prescribed depending on the illness. Their ability to effectively work depends on it’s composition and the bacteria it is expected to work on.
In 1928 Dr. Alexander Fleming began to sort through a pile of petri dishes containing colonies of bacteria that causes boils, sore throats, and abscesses. As he sorted through the dishes he noticed something unusual on one dish. It was dotted with colonies, and one area had a blob of mold growing. The area of mold was later identified as a rare strain of Penicillium notatum, the mold had secreted something that inhibited bacterial growth. Fleming later uncovered that this mold was capable of killing a wide range of harmful bacteria such as streptococcus, meningococcus and the diphtheria bacillus, that had played humanities. Prior to the discovery of Penicillin, Sulfa drugs were used during World War II. These drugs were name as the “wonder drug”. Although they’re still used today, Sulfa drugs were used to cure bacterial infections such as UTIs and gonorrhea. The new found drug penicillin, would cure millions and replace the use of Sulfa drugs.
All anti-infection agents utilized as a part of human treatment since the beginning of the anti-infection agents time in the mid 1900s can be partitioned into three unmistakable classifications as indicated by how they were eventually produced on substantial scale. These arrangements take after. Natural products: mixes made specifically by huge scale aging of microscopic organisms or parasites. Semi-synthetic antibacterial: compounds manufactured by chemical synthesis using as starting material a natural product. Fully synthetic antibacterial: exacerbates that are fabricated by completely manufactured courses (Wright, Seiple, and Myers, 2014).
The antibiotics will have different zones of inhibition on different bacteria. Also, a range of concentrations of the nutrients in the bacteria will change the bacterial growth.
Antibiotics have always been considered a prodigious innovation. Antibiotics being introduced have established resistance in individuals, animals, and all living organisms. Antibiotics were first discovered in 1932 by Alexandar Fleming, who presented the work that led to production of penicillin. His determination has made an impact to antibiotic medications that are used to destroy bacteria. The use of antibiotics resulted with successful treatments by saving lives. However, some bacteria have now been resistant to antibiotics. The resistant bacteria are not killed nor controlled by antibiotics, they can continue to live and increase. (Cowen 2002). Watsmen described an “antibiotic as a complex compound that has been produced by a microbe that kills or stops the growth of another microbe.”
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections that are becoming increasingly difficult to treat because of emerging resistance to all current antibiotics. Infections are created by pathogens, or microbes that create diseases. There are different types of microbes including: bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Some microbes are beneficial to the human body, however, there are pathogens that are deadly and require antibiotics. Antibiotics are antimicrobials that were developed to destroy microbes. Penicillin, the first commercialized antibiotic, was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming.(Enright, Robinson, Randle, 2002) While it wasn’t distributed among the general public until 1945, it was widely used in World War II for surgical and wound infections among the Allied Forces. Methicillin was introduced in 1959 to treat infections caused by penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In 1961, there were reports from the United Kingdom of S. aureus isolates that had acquired resistance to methicillin (methicillin-resistant S. aureus, MRSA).(Enright, Robinson, Randle, 2002)
Antibiotics have played an essential role in the fight against diseases and infections since the 1940’s. Antibiotics are a leading cause for the rise of global average life expectancy in the 20th and 21st century. They have greatly reduced illnesses and deaths due to diseases. With the introductions of antibiotics in the 1940’s, like penicillin into clinical practice, formally deadly illnesses became immediately curable and saved thousands of lives (Yim 2006). Antibiotic use has been beneficial and when prescribed and taken correctly their effects on patients are exceedingly valuable. However, because these drugs have been used so widely and for such a long period of time the bacteria that the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted,
Marco is not successful in his attempted rape of Esther. Though his assault has detrimental effects on her mental stability, he does not break her or destroy her. However, Buddy succeeds in shifting the focus of the gaze to be socially oppressive. In The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood is a woman of the 1950s who goes against the belief that women should marry; in fact, she declares, “I’m never going to get married” (Plath 93) while being proposed to by Buddy Willard. In his proposal, Buddy asks the question, “How would you like to be Mrs. Buddy Willard?” (92). In other words, he asks her if she would like to serve as an extension of himself. He is adhering to the Victorian notions of marriage. Her identity of Esther Greenwood will be erased with her marriage to Buddy Willard. Not only does society want Esther to succumb to her inferiority, but a specific man does as well. Society’s convictions in regards to women were so powerful that they entrenched themselves into the mind of a man Esther knew since childhood. These convictions aid Buddy in taking on the oppressive form of the male gaze. He does not view her sexually, but rather as something for him to own – someone for him to stamp his own name onto.
Antibiotics, composed of microorganisms such as streptomycin and penicillin, kill other infectious microorganisms in the human body. At one point, antibiotics were considered to have “basically wiped out infection in the United States”, but due to their overuse and evolutionary
Bacteria are the most common and ancient microorganisms on earth. Most bacteria are microscopic, measuring 1 micron in length. However, colonies of bacteria grown in a laboratory petri dish can be seen with the unaided eye. When considering the pH level, bacteria are classified as either acidophiles (acid-loving), neutrophiles (neutral ph range), or alkaliphiles (alkali-loving). The one that causes disease in humans would be the neutrophiles, which have an ideal pH range of 5.4 to 8.0. There are exceptions, however, like Alcaligenes faecalis and Vibrio choleae, which are both alkaliphiles and can infect humans. There are physical and nutritional factors that affect bacterial growth in the environment. Sterilization is needed to keep an environment free from bacterial growth. Failure to sterilize bacterial growth in our food products today leads to the unfortunate consequence of food poisoning.
Antibiotics were introduced to people in 1929, which could restrain the normal growth of the other bacteria called antimicrobial activity, was found by British scientist Alexander Fleming by coincidence. Then scientists used antibiotics, to cure injured soldiers and got great success during the World War. With the efforts of many scientists in the past half of the century, thousand kinds of antibiotics are found, which could be natural, semi-synthetic or synthetic, and many of them are used in medical field successfully.
Take for example MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a S. aureus strain that was discovered in 1961 to be resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. Webmd indicates that MRSA has now grown its resistance from methicillin to “amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin and many other common antibiotics” (MRSA). This increase in resistance of a methicillin-resistant strain of S. aureus can be attributed to the increasing use and overuse of antibiotics, not only in the doctor’s office but also in agriculture. MRSA is only one of many antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. New resistant strains are evolving rapidly. According to Dr. Ed Warren, “there are high levels of antibiotic resistance in bacteria causing common infections (e.g. urinary tract infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections) in all regions of the world” (21).
Aim: To design an experiment to investigate and observe the effects of selected antibiotics on two different species of bacteria (M.luteus & E.coli).
This test determines the susceptibility of the bacteria to an array of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance was determined based on the diameter of the zone of inhibition measured in millimeters. The measured diameter around each antibiotic disc was then compared to a standard for the Kirby-Bauer test to determine if the bacteria was resistant, intermediate, or susceptible to the antibiotics. Of the twelve tested antibiotics, the isolate was resistant to 6 of them (Table 1).