antibiotics vs antibacterial drugs..

[Munjarak]

as the title says I wanna know the difference between then...thought they were the same thing and then came to an exam wondering like "wtf?"

[JorgeLobo]

Why is it so hard? Antibiotics have a natural origin and antibacterial drugs speaks to a more general grouping that includes antibiotics and synthetic materials.

[Xaolou]

That is true. Yet, the term were used synonymously in the earlier days, so that's why you might mix them up. A much more important distinction however is the distinction between antibodies and antibiotics. Whereas antibodies are produced by the body to destroy invading bacteria, antibiotics are chemically produced structures to do a similar thing. But it should be noted that antibodies are nowadays also chemically produced and provided by an antibodies supplier for the purpose of research. Humankind more and more tries to imitate the body's mechanisms to fight viral and bacterial infections.

[JorgeLobo]

I suppose we could find some folks including naive students as here, considering these to be synonymous - but certainy not "in earier days" any more than now and not among folks of with technical knowledge of the subject.

The question did not address antibodies. Of course there's a much greater distinction betwen antbodies and antibiotics. "Humankind" develops drugs constantly and no more by imitation of the body than before. I'm not aware of significant "chemical" synthesis of antibodies - though certainly of associated therapeutic ligands. Can you say more?