Antibiotics
drug used in the treatment and prevention of bacterial infections / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An antibiotic (or antibacterial) is a chemical compound that kills bacteria or slows their growth. They are used as medicine to treat and cure diseases caused by bacteria. The first antibiotic discovered was Penicillin, a natural antibiotic produced by a fungus. Production of antibiotics first began in 1939, and in the modern day, they are made by chemical synthesis. Antibiotics can not be used to treat viruses.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Antibiotic_sensitivity_and_resistance.jpg/640px-Antibiotic_sensitivity_and_resistance.jpg)
Not to be confused with antibody.
Maclyn McCarty explained what it was like before antibiotics:
- "There are a number of infections from which no-one had [ever] recovered before the discovery of effective anti-bacterial agents".[2]