Infectious Diseases

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Chapter 18 Infectious Diseases

Introduction to Antibiotics

Antibiotics is the term used to describe drugs that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. The more general term antiinfective describes drugs that do the same to any type of organism that could infect humans, including viruses, parasites, and bacteria.

Suggestions

Important Considerations

It is important to understand the MOA of a given antimicrobial because two drugs of a different class will have a higher probability of being synergistic and making the kill compared with two drugs that act on the same part of the bug. This does not mean that antibiotics should always be doubled up, but when they do need to be, MOA is an important consideration.

Note that antimicrobial means any drug that kills any living organism. Therefore antimicrobials include the following:

Viruses are technically not alive, so antivirals are usually not referred to as antimicrobials.

Advanced Killing Techniques

Knowledge of pharmacokinetics is required to enable a clinician to be really good at knowing how to kill off an infection. Understanding some very important fundamental concepts are required (Figure 18-1).

Now, exactly how the concentration of the antimicrobial stays above the MIC in the body is very important and is different for different drugs. The most important concepts are illustrated in Figure 18-1 and include:

Penicillins

Moa (Mechanism of Action)

Cell Wall Destruction

Cephalosporins

Moa (Mechanism of Action)

Carbapenems

Moa (Mechanism of Action)

Glycopeptides

Moa (Mechanism of Action)

Pharmacokinetics

Fluoroquinolones

Aminoglycosides

MOA (Mechanism of Action)