Treating infections Flashcards
What are antibiotics?
medicines that kill bacteria inside the body
specific bacteria are only killed by a certain antibiotic, so the correct antibiotic must be used
deaths from bacterial diseases have greatly decreased where antibiotics are used
What can antibiotics be used for?
treating bacterial infections
Give an example of an antibiotic
Penicillin, ampicillin
When testing the effects of antibiotics on bacteria in a petri dish, how do you calculate the cross-sectional area of the clear zone?
measure from the widest point
use πr²
this allows you to compare the effectiveness of antibiotics
Describe how antibiotics kill bacteria
Antibiotics inhibit cell processes in the bacterium but not the host organism
For example, some antibiotics stop bacterial cell walls forming properly
This does not harm the host animal because animal cells do not have cell walls
Some antibiotics work by binding to bacterial ribosomes so that proteins cannot be made.
Bacterial ribosomes are smaller than human ribosomes and have a different structure.
Explain why these antibiotics do not harm human cells.
antibiotics cannot bind to human ribosomes
/too big/cannot fit
Explain why doctors do not prescribe antibiotics if the patient has the flu virus
antibiotics only kill bacteria and do not destroy viruses
