[shalinibalan]

Bacteria are small thread like microorganisms that cause infection in the human body and affect us with various illness and sickness. But there are also some friendly bacteria that help us in the digestion of the food and are very important for the survival of life. There are many useful bacteria that play important roles in both plant and animal kingdoms. Some bacteria are also used to make healthy food like cheese and yoghurt. Some bacteria like staphylococci are harmless and live in and out of the body. But its mutated form such as MRSA or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has developed resistance to all the antibiotics .This can cause very serious skin infection which can be difficult to treat. It’s another form bacteria such as streptococci causes throat and respiratory infections, including pneumonia. Staphylococcus aureus, which causes skin infection, enters to the body through a cut or a wound and produces pus. Staph infection causes food poisoning and can also lead to more life-threatening conditions, such as toxic shock syndrome, pneumonia, and infections of the heart of bloods.

The symptoms of bacterial infections are often evident like fever, swelling, discharge and pain in the affected area. Sometimes the body fights these bacteria and tries to get rid of them through diarrhea or vomiting. Often a thorough examination is needed to confirm bacterial infection. Bacteria are quick to reproduce in the body and they produce toxins that cause illness.

Bacterial infection can be cured by treatment with antibiotics. Each antibiotic has a different and specific pathway for stop bacterial infection. Some kill the multiplication process by interrupting the reproduction cycle. Some of them slow their growth and some stop them from multiplying until body's immune system can destroy them. Classes of antibiotics include.

• Penicillin
• Cephalosporins
• Tetracyclines
• Aminoglycosides
• Quinolones
• Macrolides

Some of them are termed as broad spectrum antibiotics which are effective against a wide variety of bacteria. Other bacteria are only specific in nature and they kill only specific bacterial invasion.
Long term hospitalization can cause hoards of bacterial infections. They are more serious because they are communicable in nature and spread from person to person. Now, researchers are working to wipe out these infections with a new bacteria-killing bandage. These super bugs can be demolished by having a micro bacterial coating that can kill the most harmful bacteria. A microbial agent is present on the bandage which is permanently bonded on the surface of the fibers of the dressing, that’s kills the bacteria. These bandages can also be washed when the bacteria adheres to them. They keep on killing the bacteria which comes in contact with them.

Microbial coatings can also be applied on the other materials used in the hospital such as hospital gowns and bed sheets, which can prevent infection from the in patients to the staffs and doctor.
Bacteria-killing bandage containing the microbial coating can work by adhering to the gauze bandages, socks and even hospital bedding and gowns by chemically bonding to them. These usually prevent the invasion of the bacteria in the wounds and in the formation of colonies. They are basically super absorbent in nature and they suck all the moisture from the wound and also the pus. Staph infections can be very dangerous if left untreated and the most common source is the hospital. With these bandages nearly 80 percent of bacterial infection can be prevented. The main advantage of such bandages is that in due course of time the bacteria adhered to it cannot become resistant to it because of the structure of the coating, and because of the complexity of the process it is impossible for the bacteria to become resistant. When the moisture is properly controlled and further infection of the bacteria is prevented and healing of the wound starts.

All wounds go through the same basic stages of healing. A wound may fail to heal if one or more of the healing stages are interrupted. The normal wound healing stages include inflammatory stage, Fibroblastic stage, and Maturation stage. The inflammatory stage initiates clothing of the blood by constricting and preventing blood loss. Later there in flow of the blood in the wounded place and the white blood cells destroy microbes and other foreign bodies. In later stages skin is formed and they are strengthened and replacement with new cells gradually takes place.
The bacterial infection on the wound can prevent the healing process and the body instead of healing and restoring the wound fights the infection.