About Antibiotics and Uses

Antibiotics are specific secondary products/ metabolites of microbial metabolism. These are produced by one group of microorganisms and are active against another group of microorganisms. All antibiotics have two properties in common, one they are selective in their action, that means one type of microorganisms are killed by a particular antibiotic, while they may not be affected by another antibiotic. Second, they are active in very minute concentrations. Antibiotic resistance is fast spreading through out the world, several reasons have been attributed to it. The main factors however, are unwanted, over use in case of viral infections, under use in case of bacterial infections, non medical uses in animal husbandary, poultry industry and agricultural. The concern is so high that it is increasingly being showcased as the world of medicine might be heading towards the Pre-antibiotic era, when we would have no effective arms and ammunition in the form of antibiotics that could treat life threatening infectious diseases.