Pharmacology: Categories Of Antimicrobial Agents

Pharmacology Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Up until the modern era, the primary cause of deaths among people was bacterial, viral, and parasite infections according to the World Health Organization. However, the discovery of penicillin in 1928, revolutionized medicine through the development of antimicrobial agents. Antimicrobial agents denote drugs utilized to stop and kill microorganisms in the body that causes infections, which saves many lives and continues to fight infections. Categories of antimicrobial agents. Antimicrobial agents fall under three categories, namely; chemical classification, based on mechanism of action and the agent’s activity on bacteria. The first category on chemical structure groups the agents based on their makeup. The groups include; Beta-lactam antibiotics which have aminopenicillanic acid, macrolides, which have a ring structure and lincosamides. Also, aminoglycosides that contain amino sugars, as well as tetracyclines, polypeptides, sulfonamides, and fluoroquinolones (Giguère, 2013, pp. 2-5). The second category is the mode of action. The antimicrobial agents stop and kill organisms through different methods. Agents such as vancomycin and penicillin hamper the creation of cell wall while polymyxin and amphotericin make the membrane permeable. Gentamicin drug prevents the synthesis of protein, while ciprofloxacin precludes the combination of nucleic acid in the DNA. The third category is the activity against bacteria. Bacteria can be grouped based on the quantity of antimicrobials it takes to stop and kill them or whether they affect a wide range of organisms or specific organisms (Giguère, 2013, pp. 2-5). Also, whether the drug is cidal or static and whether organisms are likely to be resistant to some agents. Differences between viral and bacterial infections One of the differences is that a bacterium refers to a tiny organism with one cell, which can survive inside or outside the body by itself. While the majority of bacteria found in the body are not harmful, some multiply causing ailments such as whooping cough, infection of the sinus and pneumonia. Contrary, viruses are microscopic parasites that rapidly reproduce once they enter a host’s he...