How do antibiotics work?
Bacterial infections are among the most common reasons that people seek health care worldwide. These infections interfere with activities of daily living, burden the health care system, and can lead to serious medical complications.
Different antibiotics work in different ways to kill bacteria. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are "bactericidal," which means they kill the bacteria causing the infection. Some other types of antibiotics stop bacteria from growing. Fluoroquinolones are concentration-dependent drugs, meaning they kill bacteria more efficiently when a higher amount of medicine reaches the area of infection. Your healthcare professional will prescribe the best antibiotic strength and duration for your infection.
What are fluoroquinolones?
Fluoroquinolones are a type of antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. They are usually given orally (as tablets), but can be given intravenously in the hospital for serious infections.
Because they are "bactericidal," fluoroquinolones actually kill the bacteria that are causing an infection. Fluoroquinolones work by preventing bacteria from reproducing.
How do fluoroquinolones work?
In order for bacteria to multiply, DNA strands within their cells must split apart and then reattach themselves. It is believed that fluoroquinolones work by interrupting this process. The DNA strands cannot reattach and, as a result, the cell dies.
What is antibiotic resistance?
While antibiotics are an effective way to treat bacterial infections, improper use can lead to antibiotic resistance. Resistance happens because bacteria can change, or "mutate," in ways that makes it harder for antibiotics to work against them.
What you can do
One of the ways you can help guard against antibiotic resistance is to remember the 3 Ds of appropriate antibiotic use:
- Drug. Use only the antibiotic that your healthcare professional prescribed for your condition. Do not use an antibiotic prescribed for another person or for another illness, and never share your antibiotics with someone else
- Dose. Take the correct amount of your drug at the correct times, as prescribed by your healthcare professional
- Duration. Even if you start to feel better, continue taking your antibiotic exactly as prescribed to help ensure that no bacteria can survive
What does FACTIVE do?
Many strains of bacteria have developed resistance to the older antibiotics. Drug-resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly common.
FACTIVE is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic medicine used to treat certain types of infections caused by certain bacteria. FACTIVE is highly active against many kinds of bacteria, including those that are most likely to contribute to sinusitis, bronchitis and pneumonia: Haemophilus influenzae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Streptococcus pneumoniae, including Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria that are resistant to common, older antibiotics like amoxicillin and clarithromycin.
The growing prevalence of multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (MDRSP) illustrates the need for powerful, broad spectrum antibiotic therapy. Factive is the first antibiotic FDA-approved to treat MDRSP and is the most potent quinolone against S pneumoniae in vitro*. Factive is indicated for a broad spectrum of common respiratory pathogens in mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia and acute execration of chronic bronchitis. By selecting Factive, physicians gain confidence through coverage of both susceptible§ and resistant strains of indicated pathogens.
*In vitro is performed not in a living organism but in a controlled environment, such as in a test tube or Petri dish.
§ Susceptible is accessible or especially liable or subject to some influence, mood, agency, etc.