Treatments (Drugs) Flashcards
What class of drugs is penicillin?
Beta lactam
What do Beta lactams do?
Inhibit cell wall synthesis, by binding to penicillin binding proteins and preventing the cross linking of peptidoglycans
Against what organisms is penicillin most effective?
Gram positive bacteria (mainly strep)
Give an example of something you might use penicillin to treat and name the organism you are targeting? (Hint: throat)
Tonsillitis
Targeting streptococcus pyogenes
What type of antibiotic class is Flucloxacillin?
Beta lactam
Against which organisms is flucloxacillin most active?
Staph and strep
Gram positive bacteria
Give an example of an infection that you would treat with flucloxacillin, name the specific organism targeted? (Hint: skin)
Cellulitis
Staph Aureus
What class of antibiotics is cefuroxime?
2nd generation cephalosporin which is a beta lactam
Aside from cefuroxime, give an example of a cephalosporin and state the infection it can treat
Ceftriaxone
Meningitis
When is cefuroxime used?
When there is need of a broad spectrum drug
What class of antibiotic is vancomycin?
Glycopeptide
What is the action of glycopeptide antibiotics?
inhibit the synthesis of cell walls in susceptible microbes by inhibiting peptidoglycan synthesis
What is vancomycin a good replacement for?
Penicillins in the case of allergies
Why can vancomycin be used as a replacement for penicillins?
Becuase it has a similar action and is active against the same organism (gram positive- staph and streps)
What is the action of trimethoprim?
Inhibits folic acid synthesis
Give an example of an infection that trimethoprim can be used for, name the usual causative organism.
UTI
E.coli
What is the action of metronidazole?
Inhibits nucleic acid synthesis
Against which two types of organisms is metronidazole most effective? Give examples
Anaerobic bacteria ie C.diff
Protozoa ie amoebae, giardia, trichomonas
What type of organism can acyclovir target?
Viruses
How does acyclovir work?
Inhibits the action of viral DNA polymerase
List some infections that can be treated with acyclovir?
Genital herpes
Chicken pox
Shingles
Encephalitis
What is the action/point of ARVs (antiretrovirals)? What might you use them for?
They can be used to treat HIV
There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle
What antimalarial drug would you use to treat plasmodium falciparum?
Artesunate
Quinine and doxycycline
What antimalarial drugs would you use to treat plasmodium ovale, vivax and malariae?
Chloroquine and primaquine
What screen must be done when treating plasmodium vivax/ovale/malariae? Which antimalarial calls for this?
G6PD screen, to ensure no G6PD deficiency (can cause haemolysis in the presence of primaquine)
Primaquine
