WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Posted: December 13th, 2022

WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Assignment:
Antimicrobial Agents
Antimicrobial agents are essential components in the treatment of various bacterial infections as they help to kill or prevent the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoans. Prior to the discovery of antimicrobial agents, treatment options for patients with bacterial infections were limited. For many patients, treatment often resulted in the amputation of limbs or even death.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

   Today, treatment options for bacterial infections typically have a more positive prognosis. Due to the various types of infections presented in patients, it is essential to be able to identify the underlying cause of the infection—whether bacterial or viral—before recommending drug treatments. This will help you identify whether or not an antimicrobial agent would be appropriate and which specific agent would target the infection. In this Assignment, you consider the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents for infections.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

To prepare:
Review this week’s media presentation on principles of antimicrobial therapy, as well as Chapter 8 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text.
Consider the categories of antimicrobial agents.
Think about differences between viral and bacterial infections.
Reflect on why proper identification of the infection is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
By Day 7
Write a 2- to 3- page paper that addresses the following:

Describe the categories of antimicrobial agents.
Describe differences between viral and bacterial infections.
Explain why proper identification of viral and bacterial infections is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
Reminder: The School of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/57.htm). All papers submitted must use this formatting.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

RUBRIC:
Quality of Work Submitted:
The extent of which work meets the assigned criteria and work reflects graduate level critical and analytic thinking.–

Excellent 27 (27%) – 30 (30%)
Assignment exceeds expectations. All topics are addressed with a minimum of 75% containing exceptional breadth and depth about each of the assignment topics.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Excellent 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
A clear and comprehensive purpose statement is provided which delineates all required criteria.

Assimilation and Synthesis of Ideas:
The extend to which the work reflects the student’s ability to:

Understand and interpret the assignment’s key concepts.–

Excellent 9 (9%) – 10 (10%)
Demonstrates the ability to critically appraise and intellectually explore key concepts.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Assimilation and Synthesis of Ideas:
The extend to which the work reflects the student’s ability to:
Apply and integrate material in course resources (i.e. video, required readings, and textbook) and credible outside resources.–
Excellent 18 (18%) – 20 (20%)
Demonstrates and applies exceptional support of major points and integrates 2 or more credible outside sources, in addition to 2-3 course resources to suppport point of view.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
of view.

Assimilation and Synthesis of Ideas:
The extend to which the work reflects the student’s ability to:
Synthesize (combines various components or different ideas into a new whole) material in course resources (i.e. video, required readings, textbook) and outside, credible resources by comparing different points of view and highlighting similarities, differences, and connections.–
Excellent 18 (18%) – 20 (20%)
Synthesizes and justifies (defends, explains, validates, confirms) information gleaned from sources to support major points presented. Applies meaning to the field of advanced nursing practice.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Paragraph and Sentence Structure: Paragraphs make clear points that support well developed ideas, flow logically, and demonstrate continuity of ideas. Sentences are clearly structured and carefully focused–neither long and rambling nor short and lacking substance.–Excellent 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
Paragraphs and sentences follow writing standards for structure, flow, continuity and clarity

English writing standards: Correct grammar, mechanics, and proper punctuation–
Excellent 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Uses correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation with no errors.

The paper follows correct APA format for title page, headings, font, spacing, margins, indentations, page numbers, running head, parenthetical/in-text citations, and reference list.–
Excellent 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Uses correct APA format with no errors.

Total Points: 100.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.

Introduction
Antimicrobial agents are physical agents and chemical compounds that destroy or prevent the growth of microorganisms. Antimicrobial agents can be classified according to the microbes they act principally against. These agents kill or interfere with the reproduction and growth of causative microbes like virus, parasites, fungi, and bacteria. The paper discusses the different categories of antimicrobial agents, differences between bacterial and viral infections and the importance of proper identification of viral and bacterial infections.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
Categories of antimicrobial agents
Antimicrobial agents are categorized according to the microorganism they affect. The main categories include antiviral agents, antibacterial agents, antiparasitic agents and antifungal agents (Arcangelo et al, 2017). According to Kaplan Test Prep (2016), antibacterial agents specifically act on bacteria. Some bacterial agents only act on some forms of bacteria due to the bacteria structure or due to the mode of action of the drug. Viral agents specifically act against viruses. They usually interfere with the ability of the viruses to penetrate host cells or duplicate their genetic material.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
According to Kaplan Test Prep (2016), antifungal agents specifically act against fungi. Like bacterial agents, several antifungal agents function by capitalizing on the discrepancies amid eukaryotic human cells and a microbe’s cell. For instance, since human cells lack cell walls and fungal cells have cell walls, several antifungal agents act through damaging cell walls. Thus, they eliminate infections and at the same time maintain the host’s cells integrity. Antiparasitic agents specifically act against parasites. As a result of the wide range of features amongst parasitic organisms, antiparasitics have diverse modes of action, but they all function through damaging the parasite without causing harm to the host.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
Differences between viral and bacterial infections
Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria, while viral infections are caused by viruses. Additionally, bacterial infections are treated with antibacterial agents while viral infections are treated with antiviral agents. Kaplan Test Prep (2016) alleges that bactericidal agents destroy bacteria, while bacteriostatic agents prevent bacteria from reproducing. Bacteriostatic agents rely on the ability immune system of the patient to eradicate bacteria after their division is blocked. Therefore, these agents are not regularly used to treat individuals who are immunocompromised or individuals without the capability to eradicate the bacteria on their own.
Kaplan Test Prep (2017) asserts that viral infections are harder to treat compared to bacterial infections because viruses are not cells and therefore cannot be targeted through usual pharmaceuticals, which interfere with cell functions. In addition, viral infections are harder to treat since viruses usually live inside host cells and kill the virus, the host cell is also destroyed or damaged. Therefore, preventing viral diseases is a lot more effective than treating them.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
Proper identification of viral and bacterial infections
Proper identification of bacterial and viral infections is the cornerstone to choosing the appropriate antimicrobial agent. According to Dondorp et al (2019), definitive antimicrobial therapy necessitates recognition of the pathogen responsible for the infection. Understanding the causative microbe along with its vulnerability to antimicrobial agent is the cornerstone of proper antimicrobial therapy. Arcangelo et al (2017) assert that to start on appropriate and timely treatment and to minimize avoidable antibiotic treatments, proper understanding of whether the disease is of viral or bacterial origin would be useful in selection of an appropriate antimicrobial agent.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.
Conclusion
Antimicrobial agents are useful in the treatment of viral, bacterial fungal and parasitic infections. Among antimicrobials are antibacterial agents, parasitic agents, antiviral agents, and antifungal agents. The effectiveness of treatment relies on the correctness of the diagnosis of the disease and the suitability of the antimicrobial for the causal microbe. Therefore, it is important to identify whether an infection is viral or bacterial before commencing drug treatments.WK 8 Adv. Pharmacology: Antimicrobial Agents.