Antibiotics Flashcards
What are antibiotics
Chemicals that kill/inhibit the growth of microorganisms, used by humans as drugs to treat bacterial infections
What do bacteriocidal antibiotics do
Kill bacteria
What do bacteriostatic antibiotics do
Prevent bacteria growing
How do antibiotics kill bacteria
Interfere with metabolic reactions crucial for the growth and life of cell:
-some inhibit enzymes needed to make the chemical bonds in bacterial cell walls, preventing them from growing properly/cell death as weakened cell wall can’t take the pressure as water moves into cell by osmosis=cell bursts
-some inhibit protein production by binding to bacterial ribosomes which changes their shape, cannot make proteins eg enzymes so can’t carry out important metabolic processes needed for growth and development
How can antibiotics be made to only target bacterial cells
Bacterial cells are different to mammalian cells eg don’t have cell walls/dif enzymes and have dif larger ribosomes
What is a hospital acquired infection (HAI)
Infections that are caught while a patient is being treated in hospital
Ways HAIs are transmitted
Poor hygiene eg:
-hospital staff and visitors not washing their hands before and after visiting a patient
-coughs and sneezes not being contained eg in a tissue
-equipment (beds/surgical instruments) and surfaces not being disinfected after use
Why are people more likely to catch infections in hospital
Because many patients are ill so have weakened immune systems and are around other ill people
Codes of practice developed to prevent and control HAIs
-hospital staff and visitors encouraged to wash their hands before and after they’ve been with a patient
-equipment and surfaces should be disinfected after use
-people with HAIs should be moved to an isolation ward so less likely to transmit the infection to other patients
Why are antibiotic resistant bacteria more difficult to treat
Because antibiotics don’t get rid of the infection, so can lead to serious health problems/death
Why are infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria more common in hospitals
Because more antibiotics are used there so bacteria in hospitals more likely to have evolved resistance against them
Codes of practice developed to prevent and control HAIs caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria
-doctors shouldn’t prescribe ABs for minor bacterial infections or viral infections/ to prevent infections
-should use narrow-spectrum antibiotics (only affect a specific bacterium) if possible eg when strain of bacteria the person has been infected with has been identified
-should rotate the use of dif ABs
-patients should take all of the antibiotics that they’re prescribed so infections are fully cleared
