Not all bacteria are sensitive to the same antibiotics, and also, within the same type of infectious agents, not all require the same drugs. The antibiogram helps the doctor to know which drug to prescribe.
But why can’t all microorganisms be fought with the same antibiotic? This is a very recurring question and it has its answer in the concept of evolution. Microorganisms have generated mechanisms to avoid substances that prevent them from surviving.
These resistances must be known in advance in order to apply the appropriate treatment to the infected person. To do this, the antibiogram reveals the sensitivity of a certain bacterium to antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance
Bacteria become resistant over time, based on their need to survive. Drug resistance, which can be seen on antibiograms, is classified in two ways:
Innate: they are mechanisms that a family of bacteria have naturally written in their genetic code, that is, they already had this resistance long before the application of antibiotics.
Acquired: certain bacteria created methods to resist or fight antibiotics. They went from being sensitive to these drugs to being resistant.
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