Antibiotic Drugs

Antibiotic drugs are used to treat bacterial infections and are administered in a variety of ways. They may be taken orally or injected into a muscle or vein. Antibiotics may be classified according to their mechanism of action. Broadly, antibiotics can be classified into three groups: bactericidal, bacteriostatic, and bacteriocidal. The bactericidal antibiotics kill the bacteria by destroying the cell walls of bacteria. Bacteriostatic antibiotics kill the bacteria by stopping their growth. The bacteriocidal antibiotics kill the bacteria by causing cell lysis.