Chapter 14 - Principals of Antimicrobial Therapy

Question 1

What are the principles of antimicrobial therapy?

Answer 1

• Administer a drug to an infected person that destroys the infective agent without harming the host’s cells
• Antimicrobial drugs are produced naturally or synthetically

Question 2

What are the major antimicrobial drug groups?

Answer 2

• Antibacterial drugs
  
  • Antibiotics
  • Synthetic drugs
• Antifungal drugs
• Antiprotozoan drugs
• Antiviral drugs

Question 3

260 different antimicrobial drugs are classified in more than __ drug families

Answer 3

20

Question 4

What are characteristics of the ideal antimicrobial drug?

Answer 4

• Selectively toxic to the microbe, but nontoxic to host cells
• Microbicidal rather than microbistatic
• Relatively soluble; functions even when highly diluted in body fluids
• Remains potent long enough to act and is not broken down or excreted prematurely
• Doesn’t lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance
• Complements or assists the activities of the host’s defenses
• Remains active in tissues and body fluids
• Readily delivered to the site of infection
• Reasonably priced
• Does not disrupt the host’s health by causing allergies or predisposing the host to other infections

Question 5

Any chemical used in the treatment, relief, or prophylaxis of a disease

Answer 5

Chemotherapeutic drug

Question 6

Use of a drug to prevent potential for infection of a person at risk

Answer 6

Prophylaxis

Question 7

The use of chemotherapeutic drugs to control infection

Answer 7

Antimicrobial chemotherapy

Question 8

All-inclusive term for any antimicrobial drug, regardless of its origin

Answer 8

Antimicrobials

Question 9

Substances produced by the natural metabolic processes of some microorganisms that can inhibit or destroy other microorganisms

Answer 9

Antibiotics

Question 10

Drugs that are chemically modified in the laboratory after being isolated from natural sources

Answer 10

Semisynthetic drugs

Question 11

The use of chemical reactions to synthesize antimicrobial compounds in the laboratory

Answer 11

Synthetic drugs

Question 12

Antimicrobials effective against a limited array of microbial types - for example, a drug effective mainly on gram-positive bacteria

Answer 12

Narrow spectrum (limited spectrum)

Question 13

Antimicrobials effective against a wide variety of microbial types - for example, a drug effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria

Answer 13

Broad spectrum (extended spectrum)

Question 14

Antimicrobial drugs

• Antibiotic producers
  
  • Bacteria in genera ____________ and ________
  • Molds in genera ___________ and ______________

Answer 14

• Streptomyces and Bacillus

- Penicillium and Cephalosporium

Question 15

Antibiotic producers have less competition for _________ and _____

Answer 15

Nutrients and space

Question 16

Antimicrobial drugs should be ___________ _____

Answer 16

Selectively toxic

Question 17

What are the mechanisms of drug action?

Answer 17

1. Inhibition of cell wall synthesis
2. Breakdown of cell membrane structure or function
3. Inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis, structure or function
4. Inhibition of protein synthesis
5. Blocks on key metabolic pathways