10.2.9 Antibiotics

• Drug


  Substance taken into the body that modifies or affects chemical reactions in the body
• Antibiotic


  Kills bacteria, does not work on viral infections
• Antibiotic resistance


  Some bacteria are not killed by antibiotics, they have resistance
• How resistance develops


  1. Variation in population

  2. Antibiotics kill non-resistant bacteria

  3. Resistant bacteria survive and reproduce

  4. Resistant bacteria pass on gene for resistance

  5. Population of resistant bacteria increases

  
• MRSA


  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that causes infections and is resistant to some commonly used antibiotics
• How to reduce antibiotic resistance

  • Only use antibiotics when necessary (not for viruses)
  • Use combinations of different antibiotics
  • Start antibiotics as soon as given and don't use them for too long
  • Always finish the prescribed course of antibiotics
  • Isolate patients with resistant forms of the disease
  • Use anti-bacterial hand gel in hospitals