Antimicrobial spectrum

A simplified diagram showing common disease-causing bacteria and the antibiotics which act against them.

The antimicrobial spectrum of an antibiotic means the range of microorganisms it can kill or inhibit. Antibiotics can be divided into broad-spectrum antibiotics, extended-spectrum antibiotics and narrow-spectrum antibiotics based on their spectrum of activity. Detailedly, broad-spectrum antibiotics can kill or inhibit a wide range of microorganisms; extended-spectrum antibiotic can kill or inhibit Gram positive bacteria and some Gram negative bacteria; narrow-spectrum antibiotic can only kill or inhibit limited species of bacteria.[1][2][3]

Currently no antibiotic's spectrum can completely cover all types of microorganisms.[4]

  1. ^ Michelle A. Clark; et al. (2009). Pharmacology (5th ed.). USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 375–376. ISBN 978-1-4511-4320-1.
  2. ^ David Warrell; Timothy M. Cox; John Firth; Estée Török (11 October 2012). Oxford Textbook of Medicine: Infection. OUP Oxford. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-19-965213-6.
  3. ^ Melander, Roberta J.; Zurawski, Daniel V.; Melander, Christian (2018). "Narrow-Spectrum Antibacterial Agents". MedChemComm. 9 (1): 12–21. doi:10.1039/C7MD00528H. ISSN 2040-2503. PMC 5839511. PMID 29527285.
  4. ^ Erich Lück; Martin Jager (1997). Antimicrobial Food Additives: Characteristics, Uses, Effects. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 39. ISBN 978-3-540-61138-7.

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