Uses of Antibiotics


The table at the end of this chapter shows common drugs in each class of antibiotics that are used to treat infections in different parts of the body; it is not intended for use as a guide to prescribing. For comparison, some anti-bacterial drugs are included under 'Other drugs'. Generally when a type of antibiotic is needed that cannot be given by mouth, the drug may be given by injection. Antibiotics are also included in tropical preparations for localized skin, eye, and ear infections, infective, skin preparations.


How They Work

Depending on the type of drug and the dosage, antibiotics are either bactericidal, killing organisms directly, or bacteriostatic, halting the multiplication of bacteria and enabling the body's natural defenses to overcome the remaining infections.
Penicillin and Cephalosporin’s are bactericidal, destroying bacteria by preventing them from making normal cell walls; most other antibiotics act inside the bacteria by interfering with the chemical activities essential to their life cycle.


CLASSESS OF ANTIBIOTICS