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Jai Ganesh

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Registered: 2005-06-28

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Germicide

Germicide

Gist

A germicide is any substance that kills germs or other microorganisms. Ozone is a powerful germicide - the gas kills the germs almost immediately. A substance is called a germicide if it kills germs as well as other microorganisms.

Summary

A germicide is something (such as an antiseptic or disinfectant) that destroys or inactivates pathogens (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi) : an agent or preparation that is effective against germs.

A germicide is a substance that kills germs.

Details

A germicide is a substance that kills bacteria and microorganisms. Germicides also fall into the category of bacteriostatic agents that do not directly kill bacteria but hinder their development.

Germicides are also used as chemicals used to combat pests and pathogens of plants, weeds, as well as parasites and vectors of dangerous diseases of humans and animals. Germicides are distinguished as a separate class chemical preparation. Nevertheless, it is customary to consider them among fungicidal agents (fungicides), which often combine antifungal and antibacterial activity.

Categories of germicides

Oxidizing (oxidizing) germicides. The basis is triazine, amines, organic bromine compounds, glutaraldehyde, a quaternary phosphonium salt, and ammonium chloride. Their effect on microorganism cells occurs both outside and inside. Microorganisms die due to the oxidation of cell membrane substances and cell destruction from the inside.

Non-oxidizing (non-oxidizing) germicides. They are based on bromine, chlorine, peracetic acid, chlorine dioxide, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide. They protect against microorganisms in systems where oxidizing biocides cannot be used. These are organic substances, they have high stability, activity that does not depend on pH, they are able to eliminate bacteria, fungus, and algae.

Disadvantages - high consumption for effective cleaning, toxicity, and special storage conditions, with frequent use, microorganisms can become addicted and develop new strains.

Established germicides

The most well-known germicides in microbiology are copper compounds (copper-containing fungicides), which affect microorganisms in water bodies and soils. These agents disrupt the processes of mineralisation of organic compounds and bind with the enzymes of microbial cells, disrupting the metabolic processes occurring in them and inhibiting the vital activity of pathogens.

Phthalimides have weak bactericidal activity whose effect on the metabolism of microorganisms is like the effect of copper preparations on it. Previously, this agent was used in conjunction with broad-spectrum germicides that have a complex preparation that is used to protect the cotton from gummosis and root rot.

Formaldehyde

Among the germicides that are not currently used, formaldehyde can also be mentioned, previously it was considered a good agent for dressing the seeds of some hulled crops.

The germicide effect on pathogens is exerted by many substances intended for biological plant protection, for example, the antibiotic-fungicide phytobacteriomycin, which is effective in combating bacterial diseases of vegetable crops. It is active against mucous and vascular bacteriosis, soft rot, and blackleg of potatoes.

Substances-producers of other fungi also have bactericidal activity; some of them can be used in agriculture. Examples include herbicide, polymycin (Actinomyces Polimicini), celloidin, and polymyxin. There are a lot of similar compounds, but due to the spectrum of action and other circumstances, not all of them have found practical application.

The effects of germicides

The bactericidal effect of several germicides determines the presence of certain characteristics of their behavior in the environment. They usually persist for a long time in the soil since they inhibit the bacteria "responsible" for the microbiological decomposition of foreign compounds.

What Microorganisms Naturally Live in the Mouth?
The action of most germicides depends on the temperature and pH of the medium. Their activity is in the protein. Surfactant changes in different ways, for example. anionic surfactants enhance the effect of alcohols and phenols do not affect chloramines and weaken the effect of quaternary salts.

Properties of germicides

The properties of germicides are possessed not only by drugs intended for the treatment or protection of crops, but also by substances produced in plants under the influence of these agents. Thus, the antibiotic property was observed in allicin isolated from garlic.

According to the objects of control, germicides are divided into several groups: used for the destruction of insect pests such as insecticides; ticks - acaricides; parasitic fungi - fungicides; bacteria - bactericides; rodents - rodenticides; weeds - herbicides; trees and shrubs - arboricides. Some defoliants cause leaf fall.

Allocate a group of systemic germicides, which can penetrate plants, move in their tissues, and cause the death of a harmful microorganisms (pest, parasite, etc.) that feeds on this plant. When working with germicides, it is necessary to observe personal safety measures related to protecting the environment from chemical contamination.

Concluding thoughts

By the nature of the action on microorganisms, antibiotics and synthetic germicidal agents are often divided into bacteriostatic and bactericidal. Bacteriostatic antimicrobial agents inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms without causing their death. This implies that the body's own immune defense mechanisms can cope with the destruction and elimination of the “sleeping” microbes from the body.

Bactericidal drugs cause the death of microorganisms, the body can only cope with their elimination. These are antibiotics of the penicillin series, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and others. Some antibiotics acting bacteriostatically begin to “kill” microorganisms if their concentration is increased (aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol). However, this should not be done, since, with an increase in concentration, the likelihood of a toxic effect on human cells increases sharply.

The variety of forms of microorganisms and their ability to quickly adapt to external influences led to the emergence of many antibiotics, which are usually classified according to their molecular structure. Representatives of one class act by a similar mechanism, undergo the same type of changes in the body. Their side effects are also similar.

Additional Information:

Introduction

A germ is a tiny organism that causes a disease in a plant or animal. Scientists call these microbes or microorganisms. They are so tiny that they can only be seen through a microscope. Several different kinds of organisms can be germs, including bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi. But only some of these are harmful. Many bacteria, protozoans, and fungi are harmless or actually helpful.

How Germs Spread

Some germs can easily move directly from one person to another. This can happen when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Other germs are carried from person to person by animals such as mosquitoes or other insects. People can also get sick by eating a plant or other animal that has been infected with a disease caused by a germ. Plant germs can live in the soil, they can be spread by water or the air from plant to plant, or they can be carried by insects.

Defenses Against Germs

In order to cause harm in animals, germs must first be able to enter the body. The skin keeps many germs out. If a germ gets in through the nose it may be trapped there by a sticky substance called mucus. If a germ does get all the way into the body, then the body’s immune system tries to destroy the germ. People can also help keep germs out by washing their hands, especially before they eat. For plants, farmers can use chemicals to control the germs.

History

Scientists did not know about germs until the 1800s. Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, was the first to discover that microbes cause disease. Robert Koch, a German doctor, found the germs that cause specific diseases, including tuberculosis and cholera.

Their discoveries led to improved health practices. Before that, doctors would operate on people without cleaning their hands or the surgical instruments. Many people died when germs got into wounds and caused infections. An English surgeon named Joseph Lister was the first to sterilize, or clean, wounds during operations. His methods saved many lives.

Pasteur also realized that germs can spoil food, making people who eat the food sick. He learned how to keep germs from spoiling food. He also learned how to use weak versions of germs to prevent people from getting the disease caused by the germ. He injected the weak versions, called vaccines, into people so that the immune system could attack the germ and learn how to attack it again if the real germ ever entered the body.

Today doctors continue to use vaccines and better methods of cleaning to fight germs. Scientists have also developed drugs to attack the germs if they do get into plants or animals.

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