Anaerobic bacteria are bacteria that do not live or grow when oxygen is present. In humans, these bacteria are most commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract.
🔺 They play a role in conditions such as appendicitis, diverticulitis, and perforation of the bowel so it is important to make sure we have adequate anaerobic coverage when empirically treating these infections.
💊 There are several antibiotics that cover anaerobes in addition to other bacteria.
Antibiotics can be bacteriostatic (static=unmoving) meaning that the agent prevents the growth of bacteria or bactericidal (rhymes with suicidal) meaning that it kills bacteria.
Keep in mind that bacteriostatic and bactericidal categorizations in clinical practice are not absolute and can vary depending on the dose and what is being treated.