Antibacterial
Antibacterial: Anything that destroys bacteria or suppresses their growth or their ability to reproduce. Heat, chemicals such as chlorine, and antibiotic drugs all have antibacterial properties. Many antibacterial products for cleaning and handwashing are sold today. Such products do not reduce the risk for symptoms of viral infectious diseases in otherwise healthy persons. This does not preclude the potential contribution of antibacterial products to reducing symptoms of bacterial diseases in the home.
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- Antibiotic
Antibiotic: A drug used to treat bacterial infections. Antibiotics have no effect on viral infections. Originally, an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the growth of another. Synthetic antibiotics, usually chemically related to natural antibiotics, have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks. In 1926, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, a […]
- Antibiotic resistance
The ability of bacteria and other microorganisms to resist the effects of an antibiotic to which they were once sensitive. Antibiotic resistance is a major concern of overuse of antibiotics. Also known as drug resistance.
- Antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis
Antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis: See: Tuberculosis, antibiotic-resistant.
- Antibody
Antibody: An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein, produced because of the introduction of an antigen into the body, and which possesses the remarkable ability to combine with the very antigen that triggered its production. The production of antibodies is a major function of the immune system and is carried out by a type of white […]
- Antibody cross reactivity
Antibody cross reactivity: The ability of an antibody to react with similar antigenic sites on different proteins.