Antibiotics belong to a category of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. The main classes of antibiotics are beta-lactams which again include penicillin, cephalosporins, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, sulphonamides, tetracyclines, and aminoglycosides.

A large number of bacterial diseases have been brought under control by using antibiotics. These include pneumonia, cholera, tuberculosis and leprosy. The antifungal antibiotic griseofulvin will control the debilitating fungal skin diseases such as ring worm. There are certain antibiotics which can be used in canning industry or antibiotics such as penicillin, tetracycline and erythromycins are very widely used in processing of animal feeds.

Most of the antibiotics used today are from the microorganisms that live in soil. Microorganism from soil had always been the primary source for production of antibiotics and still continues to maintain its significance. Its importance, over the antibiotic effect, seems to be more significant than in was believed.

Emerging and Re-Emerging infectious diseases are global problems, and constant supplies of new antibiotics are essential to combat these diseases successfully. In some cases antibiotic agents can connect with different drugs or substances. The new type of antibiotic is expected to avoid some problems of conventional antibiotics such as development of resistant strains, expression of various toxins, and disruption of normal microbial flora. The impact of the emerging and re-emerging diseases has been massive at socio-economic and public health levels and it presents a great challenge for the future. Their control requires continuing surveillance, research and training, better diagnostic facilities and remodeled, and well-equipped public health system.

Antibiotics are commonly used in veterinary medicine to treat infectious diseases that are caused by bacteria and certain other microorganisms. Antibiotics are part of sustainable production. Antibiotics prevent animal suffering and give to farm animals keep them healthy, which makes healthy food. Metaphylaxis antibiotics, should be prescribed on the basis of clinical findings about the progress of a disease in certain herd or flock when it is necessary.

Therapeutic antibacterial drugs are considered among the safest of pharmaceuticals but this was not always the case. Prior to the discovery of penicillin and, subsequently, other antibiotics, the safety profile of antibacterial drugs are more closely resembled that of today's cytotoxic, chemotherapeutic agents used in oncology with narrow therapeutic windows and considerable side effects. As newer antibacterial drugs are being designed to be more pathogen specific, the expectation is that these future drugs should have even better safety profiles than today's therapeutics.

The study of antibiotic resistance has grown from focusing on single pathogenic organisms in axenic culture to studying antibiotic resistance in pathogenic, commensal and environmental bacteria at the level of microbial communities. The increasing fear of drug-resistant is leading to a growing push for the next generation of antibiotics. The development of new antibiotics is determining to controlling current and future infectious diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The researchers now plan on studying the bacteria and decide what tools might be able to control its behaviour to release its full antibiotic potential. As the study of antibiotic resistance advances, it is important to incorporate this comprehensive approach to better inform global antibiotic resistance surveillance and antibiotic development.

Antibiotics  can be used in non-medical industries. They are mainly used in animal husbandry, bee-keeping; fish farming and other forms of aquaculture, ethanol production, horticulture, antifouling paints, food preservation and many more.

Antibiotics are strong medicines that treat bacterial infections. Common illnesses caused by bacteria are urinary tract infections, strep throat, pneumonia and more. Tetracycline is often used to treat acne and rosacea. Sulfonamides used to treat UTIs, bronchitis, eye and ear infections, pneumonia and bacterial meningitis. Cephalosporin can be used to treat UTIs, ear and skin infections, respiratory infections, bacterial meningitis, and sepsis. Overuse of antibiotics results in development of resistance bacteria which cannot respond to previously used antibiotics and this becomes a widespread problem for the public health.