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spectinomycin

spectinomycin

8.3
An antibiotic used to treat gonorrhea and some bacterial infections
  • noun
  • /spɛkˌtɪnəˈmaɪsɪn/
  • Specialized
: espectinomicina
  • The health department recommends spectinomycin as an effective treatment for certain bacterial infections.

Examples

  • Doctors often prescribe spectinomycin to patients diagnosed with gonorrhea.

  • (n65) Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea, may be resistant to beta-lactams, spectinomycin, and tetracycline.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Many patients have successfully recovered from gonorrhea after receiving spectinomycin.

Surface Forms

spectinomycin singular

Etymology

The word spectinomycin comes from the bacterium Streptomyces spectabilis that makes it and the common antibiotic ending -mycin. The -mycin part comes from a word meaning 'fungus' and appears in names like streptomycin, so the name points to it being a medicine that kills bacteria.