4.3.1.8 Antibiotics and Painkillers

Question 1

Antibiotics:

Answer 1

• antibiotics, such as penicillin, are medicines that help to cure bacterial diseases by killing infective bacteria inside the body
• it is important that specific bacteria should be treated by specific antibodies

Question 2

How can antibiotics be taken?

Answer 2

• can be taken as a pill, syrup or directly into bloodstream

Question 3

Why is receiving the correct antibiotic important?

Answer 3

different antibiotics are effective against different types of bacteria so receiving correct one is important

Question 4

What are the concerns about antibiotics?

Answer 4

• use of antibiotics has greatly reduced deaths from infections bacterial diseases - however, emergence of strains resistant to antibiotics is of great concern - mutations can occur in reproduction resulting in certain bacteria no longer being killed by antibiotics
• bacteria develop anti-biotic resistance by natural selection
• when resistant bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, only non-resistant ones die
• the resistant bacteria survive and reproduce, meaning the population of resistant bacteria increases
• this mean that antibiotics that were previously effective no longer work

Question 5

What can be done to prevent the development of anti-biotic resistant strains?

Answer 5

1. Stop over-using antibiotics - this unnecessarily exposes bacteria to the antibiotics
   
   1. doctors should only prescribe antibiotics only when necessary - not for viruses
2. Finishing courses of antibiotics to kill all of bacteria
   
   1. if you leave a few bacteria inside your body they will reproduce increasing the chance of developing some antibiotic resistance

Question 6

What is MRSA?

Answer 6

MRSA is a superbug - resistant to many antibiotics

Question 7

What can antibiotics not kill and why?

Answer 7

• can’t kill viruses (viral pathogens) as they use body cells to reproduce, meaning any drugs that target them would damage body tissue too
• as viruses reproduce inside cells anti-biotics can’t reach them

Question 8

Why is it difficult to develop drugs that kill viruses?

Answer 8

• difficult to develop drugs that kill viruses without also damaging body’s tissues

Question 9

What are drugs used to treat viral diseases called?

Answer 9

anti-viral drugs

Question 10

Painkillers:

Answer 10

painkillers and other medicines are used to treat the symptoms of the disease but do not kill pathogens

Question 11

What is done when at risk from unusual or dangerous diseases?

Answer 11

• our body’s natural defence system can be enhances by the use of vaccination
• since the 1940s a range of antibiotics have been developed which have proved successful against a number of lethal diseases caused by bacteria
• however, may groups of bacteria have now become resistant to these antibiotics - race to develop new set of antibiotics

Question 12

What has the use of antibiotics done?

Answer 12

• greatly reduced deaths from infectious bacterial diseases
• however, emergence of strains resistant to antibiotics is of great concern

Question 13

How do antibiotic resistant strains develop?

Answer 13

• mutations of pathogens produce new strains
• antibiotics and vaccination may no longer be effective against a new resistant strain of pathogens
• the new resistant strain will then spread rapidly as individual resistant pathogens will survive and reproduce, people are not immune to it and there is no effective treatment

Question 14

What necessitates the development of new antibiotics?

Answer 14

the development of anti-biotic resistant strains of bacteria