Lowest concentration of a drug that prevents visible growth of a bacteria or fungi
Determines the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs against specific microorganisms
Narrow spectrum antimicrobial
Targets only specific subsets of pathogenic bacteria
Broad spectrum antimicrobial
Targets wide variety of pathogenic bacteria
Spectrum of activity
Identifies the spectrum of activity --> therapeutic dosage determination
Sub-MIC or sub-lethal concentration
Useful for using the least drug concentration for the desired outcome
Cost effective and low toxicity
Antibiotic targets
Cell wall
Nucleic acid synthesis
Plasma membrane
Ribosomes
Metabolic pathways
AST results (MIC numbers)
MIC is below breakpoint = susceptible
MIC is between susceptible and resistant breakpoints = intermediate
MIC is above established breakpoint = Resistant
Breakpoint
Defines susceptibility and resistance to antibacterials
Determined by CLSI
Antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance
Causes serious mortalities to regions all over the world
Factors contributing to antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance
Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in therapeutic use
Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and rearing of livestock
Overuse and misuse of antibiotics due to leakage frompharma companies
Inappropriate use of antibiotics
Sub-therapeutic dosing
Patient's non-compliance with the recommended course of treatment
Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance
Enzymatic drug inactivation
Alteration of the target sites
Prevention of antibiotics access to target sites
Microbial death curve or survivor plots
Measures microbial levels after exposure to sterilization methods either by calculating the death rates (death curve) or survival rates (survival plots)
Biological indicators (BI)
Confirms successful sterilization process
Disinfection
Reducing or destroying microbial load of an inanimate substrate
Sanitization
Reduces microbial load of an inanimate substrates to safe public health levels
Sterilization
Complete elimination of all vegetative cells, endospores and viruses from an inanimate substrate