Antibiotic

Among the most often written prescriptions in modern medicine are antibiotic.

Antibiotic kill or damage germs, hence curing diseases. More than a hundred different antibiotic are now on hand to treat mild, even life-threatening diseases.

Though they are helpful for many different kinds of diseases, antibiotics exclusively cure bacterial ones.

Against viral infections (like common cold) and fungal diseases (such ringworm), antibiotic have no effect at all. Some are quite specialized and only work against specific germs.

Others, also referred to as broad-spectrum antibiotic, target a variety of bacteria, including those that are good for us.

Antibiotic target bacteria mostly in two ways.

They either kill the bacteria, for example, by blocking the machinery in charge of forming their cell walls, or they stop their reproduction.