Antibiotics are drugs used to kill or harm specific bacteria.
Since their discovery in the 1930s, antibiotics have made it possible to cure diseases caused by bacteria such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and meningitis - saving the lives of millions of people around the world. But antibiotics must be used wisely. Because bacteria are living organisms, they are always changing in an effort to resist the drugs that can kill them. When antibiotics are used incorrectly, bacteria can adapt and become resistant. Antibiotics are then no longer useful in fighting them.