streptomycin
2
7.0
- noun
- /ˌstrɛp.təˈmaɪ.sɪn/
- Specialized
- Before the antibiotic streptomycin was discovered, tuberculosis was often fatal.
- streptomycin and tetracycline
- streptomycin and sulfonamide
- streptomycin resistance
Examples
-
The organism was sensitive to isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, and streptomycin, but resistant to pyrazinamide.
Academic text (1992) -
Pero sought streptomycin in Zagreb, but he couldn't find it.
Fiction book (1998) -
In the 1950s, the antibiotic streptomycin became the treatment of choice.
Academic text (1998) -
A retropharyngeal abscess was noted and was treated with streptomycin injections for one week with no improvement.
Academic text (1992) -
All the patients were treated with a combination of antituberculous drugs which included streptomycin, rifampicin, isoniazid (INH), ethambutol, and pyrazinamide.
Academic text (2007) -
In the 1950s, the antibiotic streptomycin became the treatment of choice for tuberculosis.
-
The discovery of streptomycin revolutionized the treatment of serious bacterial infections.
Surface Forms
Morphology
streptomycin = Streptomyces (opaque) = streptomyces + in
The name is formed from the scientific name Streptomyces plus the chemical suffix '-in'; these are specialized terms that do not help an average B1 learner infer 'antibiotic'.
Etymology
Streptomycin is named after the bacterium Streptomyces; the parts strepto- and -myces mean 'twisted' and 'fungus', because the bacteria look like twisted threads, and the ending -mycin shows it is a medicine made from that bacterium. So, streptomycin is an antibiotic first produced by that bacterium.