Antibiotic misuse Antibiotic misuse Antibiotic misuse, sometimes called antibiotic abuse or antibiotic overuse, refers to the misuse or overuse of antibiotics, with potentially serious effects on health. It is a contributing factor to the development of antibiotic resistance, including the creation of multidrug-resistant bacteria, informally called "super bugs": relatively harmless bacteria (such as staphylococcus, enterococcus and acinetobacter) can develop resistance to multiple antibiotics and cause life-threatening infections. Antibiotics have been around since 1928 when penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming. In the 1980s, antibiotics that were determined medically important for treatment of animals could be approved under veterinary oversight. In 1996, the
Antibiotic properties of nanoparticles enhanced or induced with the addition of organic drugs. Gold particles, while not inherently antimicrobial, were discovered to express antimicrobial properties when functionalized with ampicillin. In addition to this, gold nanoparticles demonstrated improved membrane permeability with the addition of 4,6-diamino-2-pyrimidenthiol (DAPT) and non-antiobiotic amines (NAA) to their surfaces. Antibiotic properties of nanoparticles Nanoparticles have been studied extensively for their antimicrobial properties in order to fight super bug bacteria. Several characteristics in particular make nanoparticles strong candidates as a traditional antibiotic drug alternative. Firstly, they have a high surface area to volume ratio, which increases contact area with target organisms. Secondly,