We have special white blood cells that attack harmful bacteria. Even if symptoms do occur, our immune system can usually cope and fight off the infection. There are occasions, however, when it is all too much and some help is needed...from antibiotics. Alexander Fleming Alexander Fleming disc...
How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? Where do the names for prescription drugs come from? More Great Links U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): Penicillin: Opening the Era of Antibiotics The New York Times: "The Fat Drug" ...
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Current therapies — antibiotics that kill bacteria and steroids that tame infection-related inflammation — can fail to ward off the worst consequences of the disease, particularly if therapy is initiated late due to delays in diagnosis. Inflammation-reducing steroids tend to suppress immunity, weakeni...
Antibiotics are medications used to treat bacterial infections. In order to be effective, an antibiotic must target a process that takes place in bacteria without harming human cells, thereby killing bacteria without becoming toxic to humans.
Bacteria are constantly engaged in a struggle for survival, facing threats from immune cells, antibiotics, or phages— viruses that only infect bacteria. Over the course of evolution, bacteria have developed numerous strategies to protect themselves from such dangers. But how do bacteria sense potenti...
One of the ways that bacteria protect themselves from the attack of viruses is through the production of restriction enzymes. Restriction enzymes will...Become a member and unlock all Study Answers Start today. Try it now Create an account Ask a question Our experts can answer your tou...
It would be unwise to rely on new antibiotics to solve the problem. The rate at which resistance emerges is accelerating. Some new drugs last only two years before bacteria devise countermeasures. When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often hoard them, prescribing them only grudgingly and for ...
Current tests are constrained by bacterial growth rates, as they examine the effect of antibiotics on the growth of bacteria colonies cultivated from patient samples. However, the two to three days this takes to produce results can cause problems. David Livermore, medical microbiologist at ...
What methods do predatory bacteria use to attack other bacteria? What does the adaptive immune system depend on? How does the immune system respond to rabies? How fast do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? How do all viruses differ from bacteria? How is C. diff recognized by the innate...