What are broad -spectrum antibiotics?

broad -spectrum antibiotics are antibiotics that are designed to function against a wide range of bacteria, rather than with narrow spectral antibiotics, which are only effective against a smaller range of bacteria. These drugs are classically used in cases where the doctor is not a certain identity of the organism causing the disease and wants to provide the patient with drugs that quickly attack infection rather than waiting for the results of culture and prescribing narrow spectral antibiotics, which is more effective. Ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. These drugs work on both gram -negative and gram -positive organisms. When the patient seems to have a bacterial infection, a broad -spectrum antibiotic is most likely to provide effective treatment without knowing which organism is behind infection. For example, when a patient comes to a physician with bronchitis, the tdoktor can prescribe general antibiotic drugs to treat infection without accepting culture. In culture, a sample of bacteria is collected and grows tofound out which organism is responsible for infection. In addition, culture can also be used to test antibiotics if the body is resistant to antibiotics. In this case, culture is used to find a medicine that will be most effective so that the patient does not have to try several unsuccessful wide -spectrum antibiotics before we find the ones that work.

One of the problems with broad -spectrum antibiotics that began to grow at the end of the 20th century was the emergence of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria. Almost, as soon as people began to develop antibiotics, bacteria began to exchange genes that could be used to survive antibiotic therapy. In some cases, organisms have developed resistance to more wide -spectrum antibiotics, which made the treatment of infections including these organisms very demanding. In response, more advanced antibiotics classes were developed, but bacteria also adapted to their solution.The broad -spectrum antibiotic is only useful if it kills most bacteria and organisms that can quickly adapt to resist antibiotics, represent an important challenge.

Concerns about antibiotic resistance have led to some recommendations that doctors change the way they use and prescribe these drugs. Doctors are encouraged to prescribe, for example, a broad -spectrum antibiotic if the patient cannot fight for their own infection. In addition, patients are instructed in the importance of full completion of antibiotics to prevent the development of resistance to antibiotics.