Anti Microbial Agents (Essay Sample)

Antimicrobial agents
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Categories of antimicrobial agents
Antimicrobial agents are some of the widely used drugs across the world. When administering antimicrobial drugs it is important to accurately diagnose the infection. It is also important to understand the drug characteristics particular to the given antimicrobial agent. Antimicrobial agents are classified by two classification systems. One of the ways of classifying them is by the target site of the drugs. The other way to classify them is by a microbistatic means. This is whether the drugs kill or inhibit growth (Tanwar, et al., 2014).
Antimicrobial agents can be categorized by the site of action. There are five sites of target by antimicrobial agents. The agents can then be categorized based on the target. These five sites of action include: cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, nucleic acid synthesis, cell membrane function and synthesis of critical metabolites (Tanwar, et al., 2014).
Antimicrobial agents inhibit the synthesis of the cell wall in two different ways. The first one is inhibition of the synthesis of the linear strands. Examples of such antimicrobial agents include bacitracin. The Antimicrobial agents also inhibit cell wall synthesis by obstructing cross-linking of the linear strands. Examples of this include penicillin.
Examples of Antimicrobial agents that inhibit the cell membrane function include sterols and phospholipids. Antimicrobial agents that inhibit the synthesis of nucleic acids prevent relaxation of the super coiled DNA during the replication process. They inhibit the synthesis of mRNA (Tanwar, et al., 2014).
Differences between viral and bacterial infections
Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria. Examples of such include sore throat, TB and urinary tract infections. Viral diseases are caused by a virus and include AIDS, Ebola and common cold.
Bacteria are single celled microorganisms that thrive in different environments. They can thrive in extreme temperatures. Other forms of bacteria are helpful. For example, bacteria in the intestines help in digestion of food. Viruses are smaller than bacteria. They cannot live on their own. They need a host such as human beings, animals or plants to survive (Kurano & Tsukamoto, 2011).
Antibiotic drugs usually treat bacterial infections. They are not effective in treating viral infections.  In some instances, it is difficult to understand whether the symptoms are caused by viruses or bacteria. Such ailments like meningitis and pneumonia are either caused by viruses or bacteria. Both microbes can cause mild to severe diseases.
In some instances, both microbes cause symptoms that are similar (Kurano & Tsukamoto, 2011). Both microbes cause symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, inflammation, cramping and vomiting (Signore, 2013). These symptoms are as a result of the body trying to get rid of the microbes.
Significance of accurate diagnosis of infections in selecting antimicrobial agent
Accurate diagnosis of viral and bacterial infections is very critical in their treatment. It is important for the doctor to get the medical history and laboratory tests to determine the cause of the infection. In ...