Question

What are antibiotics? Name any two examples.

Answer 1

Antibiotics are the group of medicines that fight bacterial infections. These are the antimicrobial agents. They generally work by killing the bacteria.

Complete answer:
Antibiotics are the medicines that are prescribed by the doctor at the time of any bacterial infection. Antibiotics work by inhibiting the growth of the bacteria and finally killing them. Antibiotics are taken in a course that is prescribed by the doctor. If the course is not completed then there are chances that the infection has not been overcome yet. Antibiotics include a range of powerful drugs. It should be noted antibiotics do not treat the viral infection such as cold and flu or the disease which are caused by viruses.

The first antibiotic to be discovered was by Alexander fleming in the year 1928 and he named it penicillin. Antibiotics also have some side effects such as diarrhea and nausea. Side effects caused by antibiotics depend on person to person and how the body reacts. Generally, antibiotics do not have any serious side effects.

Examples of antibiotics include Penicillin. The drug works by attacking enzymes that build the cell walls of bacteria and Tetracycline which is used to treat infections caused by bacteria including pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections. It also treats certain infections of the skin, eye, lymphatic, intestinal, genital and urinary systems.

Note: Antibiotics are used when the body's immune system on its own cannot fight the bacterial infection which also means the growth of bacteria is excessive. Antibiotics should always be taken under prescription and the course of antibiotics should always be completed. However, sometimes excessive use of antibiotics also makes some bacteria resistant to antibiotics.