How to treat bacterial infection
Antibiotics are the only way to treat bacterial infections (to eradicate bacteria in an infected body).
Antibiotic
Most antibiotics kill bacteria by inactivating enzymes to disrupt the metabolic process. There are many antibiotics, which are classified into classes.
In addition, antibiotics are specific drugs. Hence, each type of antibiotic is made for one type of bacteria. We will provide an overview of how common antibiotics work.
Use Antibiotics Properly
You must follow your doctor's instructions for taking your antibiotics to prevent strong side effects and antibiotic resistance. This includes the instructed dosage rate and the instructed amount of antibiotics. DO NOT do anything less or extra on your own.
Here is a list of common antibiotics (or bacteriostatic agents) that eradicate the bacteria.
Phosphomycin
Phosphomycin is an antibiotic that inhibits the synthesis of NAM and NAG, preventing the formation of the peptidoglycan wall. This leaves a "hole" on the surface of gram-positive bacteria, which the osmosis effect causes to lyse, thus killing it.
Penicillin works like phosphomycin
Bacitracin
Bacitracin is an antibiotic that stops the peptidoglycan wall from forming by inhibiting the movement of bacterprenol. When bacterprenol transports the NAM-NAG structure, it constantly moves between the cell membrane and the peptidoglycan layer. Bacitracin can bind to the bacterprenol and inhibit it from moving back to the cytoplasm. This causes the reduction of peptidoglycan supply, but the autolysins do not know. Hence, the autolysins will continue to cut bonds while no new peptidoglycan is supplied. This leaves a hole on the surface of a gram-positive bacteria, and the osmosis effect will lyse the bacteria, thus killing it. (NHS, n.d.)
Vancomycin
Vancomycin is an antibiotic that stops the peptidoglycan wall from forming by inhibiting the peptide bond synthesis. After the peptidoglycan structure is produced and transported, it attaches to the main peptidoglycan layer using transpeptidase, which forms the peptide bond. Vancomycin binds to the transpeptidase and inhibits it from working (denatures). This again leaves a hole in the surface of the bacteria, and the osmosis effect bursts the cell apart, killing the bacteria (NHS, n.d.).
Quinolone
Quinolone is an antibiotic that distributes DNA synthesis by inhibiting the use of topoisomerase, an enzyme that assists the DNA synthesis process. It permanently stops the binary fission process because the DNA cannot be replicated for the next reproduction cycle, thus "killing" it (NHS, n.d.).
Antibiotic Resistant
One reason bacteria are so hard to kill is that, over time, they have become antibiotic-resistant, as the plasmids in the bacteria contain genes that can produce antibiotic-resistant genes. As a result, eradicating bacteria becomes challenging after this occurs in your body. There are a few ways to prevent it.
Prevent the Overuse or Misuse of Antibiotic
Overusing or misusing an antibiotic, like taking it without instructions or not following the doctor's instructions, can cause antibiotic resistance to form as bacteria use the chemicals to produce antibiotic genes from their plasmids.
It is Not Your Fault
Antibiotic-resistant properties can pass on to others as the bacteria spreads from you to others. Hence, antibiotic resistance can form before you misuse or overuse antibiotics!
Gram-negative bacteria
Another reason why bacteria are so hard to kill is because they are gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria have a natural layer of outer membrane, which is selectively permeable, including antibiotics. Hence, the antibiotics cannot get into the bacteria to eradicate them.
Gram-positive bacteria are easier to kill because the peptidoglycan layer is hydrophilic (it can absorb external materials like antibiotics easily).