in the United States is pediatric overuse of antibiotics. The audience to whom the responsibility of this problem falls includes pediatricians and family practice physicians who are in the position to prescribe and administer antibiotics to children. Antibiotics have been one of man’s greatest discoveries in the medical realm; saving thousands of lives that would have otherwise succumb to harmful‚ disease-causing bacteria.1 However‚ with the discovery of antibiotics has also come the misconception
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Over use of Antibiotics in Ear Infections The over use of antibiotics is a serious public health threat. Children are becoming desensitized to the effects of antibiotics due to being unnecessarily overmedicated. Over use of antibiotics for acute otitis media (AOM) can lead to future antibiotic resistant infections. Otitis media is usually a result of a poorly functioning Eustachian tube‚ a canal that links the middle ear with the throat area. Of the three basic types of ear infections‚ acute
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I. An Historical Overview of Antibiotics Allow me to begin with an historical overview of antibiotics. The antibiotics field was initiated when Paul EHRLICH first coined the term ‘magic bullet’‚ or chemotherapy‚ to designate the use of antimicrobial compounds to treat microbial infections. In 1910‚ EHRLICH discovered the first antibiotic drug‚ Salvarsan‚ which was used against syphilis. EHRLICH was followed by Alexander FLEMING‚ who discovered penicillin by accident in 1928. Then‚ in
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Antibiotics Various families of antibiotics are used for various types of microorganisms to achieve control and assist body defenses during times of infection. Antibiotics are products of microorganisms that react with and inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. An antibiotic should be selectively toxic to pathogenic microorganisms‚ should not incite an allergic response in the body‚ should not upset the normal microbial population of various body sites‚ and should not foster the development
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History of Antibiotics‚ Antibiotic Resistance‚ and Antibiotic Alternatives Antibiotic Resistance and Alternatives Antibiotics have been commonly‚ though mistakenly‚ thought of as the ultimate cure‚ for almost all illness‚ for over half a century now. However‚ the intended use of antibiotics is for the treatment of bacterial infections and diseases. Viruses or fungi-related illnesses will not be affected by antibiotics. This misunderstanding of the use of antibiotics has led to overuse‚ or the misuse
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Antibiotics are types of medicines which destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria. Bacteria are microscopic organisms which can cause abhorrent illnesses such as syphilis‚ tuberculosis‚ salmonella‚ and some forms of meningitis. Before bacteria can multiply and cause symptoms‚ our body’s immune system has special white blood cells which can usually destroy them. Also for the majority of people with these bacterial infections even when symptoms do start to occur‚ these white blood cells are usually
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tics Antibiotics Several scientists around the beginning of the 20th Century discovered substances that were toxic to bacteria yet not to the human cell. But it wasn’t until Sir Alexander Flemings own discovery in 1928 that everyone took notice. While washing his equipment‚ Sir Fleming noticed a bit of mold attacking a patch of bacteria. It’s frightening to consider how many more people would have died in the 20th Century if Sir Fleming did not have good eyes. Today‚ some complain that
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of an improvement that has been made in the medical branch of science is the invention of antibiotics. An antibiotic is a substance produced by one organism that can destroy another. The term literally means “against life.” One of the earliest discovered and widely used antibiotics is Penicillin. Penicillin is collected from the Penicillium mold. Alexander Fleming is known for discovering this antibiotic. In 1901‚ he went to St. Mary Hospital to study medicine. In 1914‚ during World War I‚
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Antibiotics An antibiotic is defined as a substance that is produced by microorganisms that in miniscule amounts inhibits the growth of another microorganism (Tortora 2010). Antibiotics can be found naturally in the environment or they can be manufactured with chemicals. They are specifically designed to hinder the growth and development in other microbes. Yet‚ these antimicrobial drugs should not cause extreme harm to normal microorganisms (Tortora 2010). The vast majority of antibiotics
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Discovery of Antibiotics “Penicillin” As we know‚ the 19th and 20th centuries were among some of the most drastic years the United States experienced. While we often look at it as a time of bad and wrong decisions‚ there were many positive things that came from them. The most prominent of them were the number of discoveries and inventions that took place and were of great benefits then and now. One of those was the discovery of antibiotics in 1928‚ by Dr. Alexander Fleming. Before this discovery
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