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Running head: WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT: ANTIMICROBIALS
Week 8 Assignment: Antimicrobials
Sarah Russell
Walden University
NURS-6521: Advanced Pharmacology
Dr. Margo White
April 26, 2018

WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT: ANTIMICROBIALS
Week 8 Assignment: Antimicrobials
Antimicrobial agents are medications that inhibit the growth of pathogenic
microorganisms and are an essential component in the treatment of bacterial infections. When
healthcare professionals integrated antimicrobials into medicine in the 1930s antibiotics were
substances produced by microorganisms that selectively inhibit the growth of another (Jethwa,
2016). Research has evolved, however, and many antibiotics are now manufactured synthetically
and have comparable efficacy. The purpose of this paper is to explain the classification of several
key antibiotics, summarize the differences between bacterial and viral infections, and present
evidence-based information about safe prescriptive practices.
Categories of Antimicrobial Agents
Antimicrobials encompass a diverse variety of anti-infective agents and antibiotic
medications that suppress microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites (Leekha,
Terrell, & Edson, 2011). Experts often classify antimicrobial drugs according to their mechanism
of action. β-lactam ring antibiotics (penicillin, cephalosporin), for instance, inhibit cell wall
synthesis or function whereas protein synthesis inhibitors (tetracycline, macrolides) work at
different stages of prokaryotic mRNA translation like initiation, elongation, and termination.
Nucleic acid inhibitors (metronidazole, fluoroquinolones, sulfonamides, rifampicin) prevent
DNA or replication and synthesis (Arcangelo, Peterson, & Reinhold, 2017).
Penicillin and cephalosporin are structurally similar but vary in the pathways of
absorption and excretion as well as the infectious agents they target (Arcangelo et al., 2017)
Many penicillins are not digested well due to the acid content of the stomach and must be
administered parenterally. Penicillin are excreted by the kidneys, may cause nausea and diarrhea,
and are the agents of choice for treating gram-positive infections such as endocarditis and
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WEEK 8 ASSIGNMENT: ANTIMICROBIALS
penicillin-sensitive streptococci (Eades et al., 2017). Cephalosporins are well absorbed in the GI
tract and primarily excreted by the kidneys, and common side effects include nausea, dizziness,
and rash (Arcangelo et al., 2017). Newer fifth-generation cephalosporins (ceftaroline,
ceftobiproleposess) possess a unique spectrum of bactericidal activity among β-lactams and are
used to treat complicated SSTIs and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults (Eades et
al., 2017).