Definition

Noun: 1. An antibiotic drug: Viomycin is a specific antibiotic substance. It is classified as a polypeptide antibiotic, meaning it is composed of a chain of amino acids. Its primary medical use is as part of a combination therapy to treat tuberculosis.

Usage

• Viomycin is not a first-line treatment but is used for tuberculosis caused by bacteria resistant to more common drugs.
• It is administered by injection into a muscle (intramuscularly).
• Due to potential serious side effects, its use is carefully monitored and it is always given alongside other anti-tuberculosis medications.

Examples

• The doctor prescribed a regimen including viomycin for the drug-resistant tuberculosis case.
• Viomycin can cause significant side effects, such as kidney damage and hearing loss.
• Before streptomycin was discovered, viomycin was an important antibiotic for tuberculosis.

Advanced Usage

• Reserve antibiotic: Viomycin is considered a reserve or second-line antibiotic, meaning it is held back for use only when standard treatments fail due to bacterial resistance or patient intolerance.

Variants and Related Words

• Viocin: This is a former trade name for viomycin. You may encounter this name in older medical literature.
• Polypeptide antibiotic: This is the class of antibiotics to which viomycin belongs. Other examples include bacitracin and polymyxin B.

Synonyms

• Antimicrobial agent: A general term for a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms like bacteria.
• Anti-tuberculosis drug: A specific term for medications used to treat tuberculosis.

Noun

1. a basic polypeptide antibiotic (trade name Viocin) administered intramuscularly (along with other drugs) in the treatment of tuberculosis