The following is a list of antibiotics. The highest division between

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s is

bactericidal A bactericide or bacteriocide, sometimes abbreviated Bcidal, is a substance which kills bacteria. Bactericides are disinfectants, antiseptics, or antibiotics. However, material surfaces can also have bactericidal properties based solely on their p ...

and

bacteriostatic A bacteriostatic agent or bacteriostat, abbreviated Bstatic, is a biological or chemical agent that stops bacteria from reproducing, while not necessarily killing them otherwise. Depending on their application, bacteriostatic antibiotics, disinfec ...

. Bactericidals kill

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

directly, whereas bacteriostatics prevent them from dividing. However, these classifications are based on laboratory behavior. The development of antibiotics has had a profound effect on the health of people for many years. Also, both people and animals have used antibiotics to treat infections and diseases. In practice, both treat bacterial infections.

By coverage

The following are lists of antibiotics for specific microbial coverage (not an exhaustive list):

MRSA

Antibiotics that cover methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA): *

Vancomycin Vancomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic medication used to treat certain bacterial infections. It is administered intravenously ( injection into a vein) to treat complicated skin infections, bloodstream infections, endocarditis, bone an ...

* Teicoplanin * Linezolid * Daptomycin *

Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, sold under the trade names Bactrim, Cotrim (a short form of the British Approved Name, Co-trimoxazole) and Septra, among others, is a fixed-dose combination antibiotic medication used to treat a variety of bacte ...

Doxycycline Doxycycline is a Broad-spectrum antibiotic, broad-spectrum antibiotic of the Tetracycline antibiotics, tetracycline class used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and certain parasites. It is used to treat pneumonia, bacterial p ...

* Ceftobiprole (5th generation) * Ceftaroline (5th generation) *

Clindamycin Clindamycin is a lincosamide antibiotic medication used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections, including osteomyelitis (bone) or joint infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, strep throat, pneumonia, acute otitis media (mi ...

* Dalbavancin * Delafloxacin * Fusidic acid * Mupirocin (topical) * Omadacycline * Oritavancin * Tedizolid * Telavancin *

Tigecycline Tigecycline, sold under the brand name Tygacil, is a tetracycline antibiotic medication for a number of bacterial infections. It is a glycylcycline class drug that is administered intravenously. It was developed in response to the growing ra ...

(also covers gram negatives)

''Pseudomonas aeruginosa''

Antibiotics that cover ''

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is a common Bacterial capsule, encapsulated, Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-negative, Aerobic organism, aerobic–facultative anaerobe, facultatively anaerobic, Bacillus (shape), rod-shaped bacteria, bacterium that can c ...

'': Certain cephalosporins, cephalosporin-beta-lactamase-inhibitor combinations, and new siderophore cephalosporins. * Ceftazidime (3rd generation) * Cefepime (4th generation) * Ceftobiprole (5th generation) * Ceftolozane/tazobactam *

Ceftazidime/avibactam Ceftazidime/avibactam, sold under the brand name Avycaz (by AbbVie) among others, is a fixed-dose combination medication composed of ceftazidime, a cephalosporin antibiotic, and avibactam, a Beta-lactamase inhibitor, β-lactamase inhibitor. It i ...

* Cefiderocol(siderophore cephalosporin) Certain penicillins: * Piperacillin and Piperacillin/tazobactam * Ticarcillin/clavulanic acid Certain carbapenems and carbapenem-beta-lactamase-inhibitors combinations: *

Carbapenem Carbapenems are a class of very effective antibiotic agents most commonly used for treatment of severe bacterial infections. This class of antibiotics is usually reserved for known or suspected multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Si ...

s: (meropenem, imipenem/cilastatin, doripenem - NOT ertapenem) * Meropenem/vaborbactam * Imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam Others: * Fluoroquinolones: particularly levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin * Polymyxins: Colistin, Polymyxin B *

Aztreonam Aztreonam, sold under the brand name Azactam among others, is an antibiotic used primarily to treat infections caused by gram-negative bacteria such as ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa''. This may include bone infections, endometritis, intra abdomi ...

(monobactam) *

Aminoglycoside Aminoglycoside is a medicinal and bacteriologic category of traditional Gram-negative antibacterial medications that inhibit protein synthesis and contain as a portion of the molecule an amino-modified glycoside (sugar). The term can also refer ...

s - particularly tobramycin and amikacin

VRE

Antibiotics that usually have activity against vancomycin-resistant ''Enterococcus'' (VRE): * Linezolid and Tedizolid * Streptogramins such as quinupristin-dalfopristin * Advanced generation

tetracyclines Tetracyclines are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotic compounds that have a common basic structure and are either isolated directly from several species of ''Streptomyces'' bacteria or produced semi-synthetically from those isolated compounds. ...

, Omadacycline, Eravacycline * Daptomycin * Oritavancin Antibiotics with less reliable but occasional (depending on isolate and subspecies) activity: * occasionally

penicillins Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by '' P. chrysogenum'' ...

including penicillin, ampicillin and ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulnate, and piperacillin-tazobactam (not all vancomycin-resistant ''Enterococcus'' isolates are resistant to penicillin and ampicillin) * occasionally

doxycycline Doxycycline is a Broad-spectrum antibiotic, broad-spectrum antibiotic of the Tetracycline antibiotics, tetracycline class used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and certain parasites. It is used to treat pneumonia, bacterial p ...

and minocycline * occasionally

fluoroquinolones Quinolone antibiotics constitute a large group of broad-spectrum antibiotic, broad-spectrum bacteriocidals that share a bicyclic molecule, bicyclic core structure related to the substance 4-Quinolone, 4-quinolone. They are used in human and ve ...

such as moxifloxacin, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin

By class

''See also

pathogenic bacteria Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and many are Probiotic, beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The nu ...

for a list of antibiotics sorted by target bacteria.'' Antibiotics coverage diagram

Note: (Bs): Bacteriostatic

Antibiotic candidates

These are antibiotic candidates, and known antibiotics that are not yet mass-produced.

Notes

References

{{Antibiotics social and layman issues Antibiotics