Top Ten Antibiotics

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Metronidazole

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What is metronidazole?**
The antibacterial activity of metronidazole was discovered by accident in 1962 when metronidazole cured a patient of both trichomonad vaginitis and bacterial gingivitis

Metronidazole is one of the rare examples of a drug developed against a parasite which has since gained broad use as an antibacterial agent used to treat skin infections, rosacea, and mouth infections (including infected gums and dental abscesses). It's used in the treatment of conditions such as bacterial vaginosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, infected insect bites, skin ulcers, bed sores, wounds, and to treat and prevent bacterial and parasitic infections.

Metronidazole is highly active against gram-negative anaerobic bacteria, such as B. fragilis, and gram-positive anaerobic bacteria, such as C. difficile.

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Ciprofloxacin**

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What is Ciprofloxacin?
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic. It belongs to a group of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. Ciprofloxacin, was patented in 1983 by Bayer A.G. and subsequently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for use in the United States in 1987. Ciprofloxacin is marketed worldwide, with well over 300 different brand names, and since its introduction, the value of fluoroquinolones for the respective uses has been recognized.

It is used to treat serious infections, such as skin and bone infections, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), conjunctivitis, eye infections, ear infections, or infections when other antibiotics have not worked.

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Linezolid

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What is Linezolid?
Linezolid is an antibiotic used for the treatment of infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to other antibiotics. Linezolid is used to treat infections, including pneumonia, and infections of the skin. Linezolid is active against most Gram-positive bacteria that cause disease, including streptococci, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Linezolid was discovered in the mid 1990s, and was approved for commercial use in 2000. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Linezolids' impact on Gram-positive bacteria makes it on the list of Top Ten Antibiotics.

Ivermectin is a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic agent, primarily deployed to combat parasitic worms in veterinary and human medicine. This unprecedented compound has mainly been used in humans as an oral medication for treating filarial diseases but is also effective against other worm-related infections and diseases, plus several parasite-induced epidermal parasitic skin diseases, as well as insect infestations.

Discovered in in the late-1970s, the pioneering drug ivermectin, a dihydro derivative of avermectin, originating solely from a single microorganism isolated at the Kitasato Intitute, Tokyo, Japan from Japanese soil, has had an immeasurably beneficial impact in improving the lives and welfare of billions of people throughout the world. Despite decades of search around the world, the Japanese microorganism remains the only source of avermectin ever found. Based on its versatility, safety and the beneficial impact that it has to make this list of Top Ten Antibiotics.

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Tetracycline

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*What is Tetracycline?*
Discovery of of the tetracyclines involves the collective contributions of thousands of dedicated researchers, scientists, clinicians, and business executives over the course of more than 60 years. Discovered as natural products from actinomycetes soil bacteria, the tetracyclines were first reported in the scientific literature in 1948. They were noted for their broad spectrum antibacterial activity and were commercialized with clinical success beginning in the late 1940s to the early 1950s.

Tetracyclines are bacteriostatic - they kill other bacteria. Tetracycline is used to treat many different bacterial infections of the skin, intestines, respiratory tract, urinary tract, genitals, lymph nodes, and other body systems. It is often used in treating severe acne, or sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia. It is a collective success for researchers, scientists, clinicians, and business executives , and thus makes the Top Ten Antibiotic list.

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What are Aminoglycosides?

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The first Aminoglycoside, the antibiotic streptomycin, was discovered in 1943 by American biochemists Selman Waksman, Albert Schatz, and Elizabeth Bugie, who isolated the compound from Streptomyces griseus, a strain of soil bacteria.
Aminoglycosides consist of amino groups which are connected to glycosides. These antibiotics, unlike most others, are usually administered intramuscularly or intravenously in a clinical setting.

Aminoglycosides are often prescribed for serious Gram-negative infections. Fortunately, Aminoglycosides are potent bactericidal antibiotics that act by creating fissures in the outer membrane of the bacterial cell. They are particularly active against aerobic, gram-negative bacteria and act synergistically against certain gram-positive organisms. They kill bacteria directly and are often used for conditions that are difficult to treat. A few types of Aminoglycosides can be taken as ear drops, eye drops or orally. They reach #5 on the list of Top Ten Antibiotics.

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What is Cephalexin?

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Cephalexin is a first-generation antibiotic of the cephalosporin class which demonstrates antimicrobial effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, albeit with generally greater efficacy against Gram-positive organisms. Cephalexin binds to penicillin binding proteins on bacterial cells walls, thus inhibiting peptidoglycan linking and weakening the cell wall.

The first chemical compounds of the cephalosporin group were isolated from Cephalosporium acremonium, a cephalosporin-producing fungus first discovered by Giuseppe Brotzu in 1948 from a sewage outfall off the Sardinian coast.

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What is Penicillin?

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Penicillin heralded the dawn of the antibiotic age. Before its introduction there was no effective treatment for infections such as pneumonia, gonorrhea or rheumatic fever. Hospitals were full of people with blood poisoning contracted from a cut or a scratch, and doctors could do little for them but wait and hope. Penicillin V potassium is used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria such as pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections, scarlet fever, and ear, skin, gum, mouth, and throat infections.

Antibiotics are compounds produced by bacteria and fungi which are capable of killing, or inhibiting, competing microbial species. This phenomenon has long been known; it may explain why the ancient Egyptians had the practice of applying a poultice of moldy bread to infected wounds. But it was not until 1928 that penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was discovered by Alexander Fleming, Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London. For this reason it is undoubtable the number 1 antibiotic on the Top Ten Antibiotics

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Amoxicillin

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What is Amoxicillin?
Amoxicillin was discovered by scientists at Beecham Research Laboratories in 1972. The narrow spectrum of antimicrobial activity of the penicillin's, led to the search for derivatives of penicillin which could treat a wider range of infections. It's used to treat bacterial infections, such as chest infections (including pneumonia), dental abscesses and urinary tract infections (UTIs). It's used in children, often to treat ear infections and chest infections.

Tetracycline was patented in 1953 and came into commercial use in 1978. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Tetracycline is available as a generic medication. Tetracycline was originally made from bacteria of the Streptomyces type.

Tetracycline is used to treat infections caused by bacteria including pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections; ; certain infections of skin, eye, lymphatic, intestinal, genital and urinary systems; and certain other infections that are spread by ticks, lice, mites, and infected animals. It is also used along with other medications to treat acne. Tetracycline is also used to treat plague and tuleramia (serious infections that may be spread on purpose as part of a bioterror attack).