End of Week 3 Summary
Congratulations on completing week 3 of the course! We hope you have enjoyed the week and have expanded your knowledge on microbiology. This week, we have focused on antimicrobial resistance, …
Course: Introduction to Practical Microbiology
How do ‘superbugs’ occur?
The term ‘superbugs’ describes a group of bacteria resistant to multiple (multi-resistant), or all (pan-resistant), commonly used and tested antibiotics. Multi- and pan-resistance is, however, seen against all antimicrobials for …
Mechanism of Antimicrobial Resistance
There are various different mechanisms of resistance to common antimicrobials. Genes for such mechanisms can be grouped into four main categories. The four main categories of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria …
Antimicrobial Use
Antibiotics are used for a variety of infections. For some infections, a singular antimicrobial agent is used (monotherapy) and for others, multiple antibiotics are employed (combination therapy). The decision as …
Spectrum of activity
Antibiotics are used to kill bacterial infections. However, antibiotics differ in their mechanism of action and the species of bacteria they target. Some antibiotics are effective against a very wide …
T/C dependent, MIC, MBC, MPC vs antimicrobial effect
This step looks at key terminology and factors when analysing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a particular drug. As mentioned in a previous step, absorption is one of the first …
Sterile and non-sterile sites
Infections can occur in most places within the body. These areas can be split into sterile and non-sterile sites. Sterile sites Sterile sites are areas typically where microorganisms are not …