how can bacteria be killed?
108572
By disrupting its main functions.  That's essentially what soap does.
134025
Antibiotics are specificly to kill bacteria.  When misused they can promote the development of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics so should always be used by following a physician's directions
1124880
Listerine can kill the bacteria in your mouth... but you'd have to constantly be swishing with listerine. Antibiotics only help systemic bacteria, and the bacteria in your mouth are topical rather than systemic. Cavities work from the outside of your tooth inward, rather than the other way around.
851299
Antibacterial cleaners main ingredient is alcohol. The alcohol kills bacteria so it cannot spread to others. It does not remove it from your hands, just kills it. When you wash your hands you also wash away the dead bacteria.
738084
You're right about the toxins.\n\nA number of bacteria produce toxins which "poison" the body.\nCooking may kill them, but it doesn't destroy the toxins. (basically, the heat from cooking isn't high enough to break the chemical bonds in the toxin molecules.)
658448
Making sure the full course of antibiotics is taken to make sure  all bacteria are killed and none are left to build up resistance. Using a combination of antibiotics is also needed./
157884
as libby said, washing your hands is getting rid of bacteria through friction.  as for using waterless, antibacterial stuff, it kills every single microbe on your hands.  the thing is, you have billions of microbes all over you hands and body that actually work to kill the bad germs.  these are called your natural flora.  the bad germs are called transient microbes, these are the ones that cause disease.  if you kill your good germs, you have a much higher chance of getting sick, because those good germs aren't there to kill the bad ones.  best bet is to use plain old regular soap in a pump-dispener, not a bar (which can harbor bad germs)
480038
Knowing how a bacteria works and how it is structured means knowing how it can affect humans.  For example, if a bacteria can make a person ill, but it has something called a beta-lactam ring in its cell wall, that is good to know because a drug that works on the beta-lactam ring is able to kill the bacteria.\n\nUnknown bacteria may also have clinical uses.  Many pharmaceutical drugs are based on products made by organisms.  Penicillins (which may work in the above-described scenario) is actually isolated from a fungus.  Digitalis and digoxin, cardiac drugs, come from the foxglove plant.  It is very possible that this unidentified bacteria may have something it produces that would lead to a medical breakthrough.
1065488
Lead wasn't really used intentionally to kill bacteria, it just did that as a side effect.  Unfortunately, it tended to do the same to humans.  Over the years, we've come up with better means to control bacteria.  The lead in old homes was primarily found in lead water pipes and lead-based paints.  Walls aren't generally very good environments for bacteria anyway, and as the previous poster mentioned, we now put chlorine in tap water, which is more effective than lead at killing bacteria, and less toxic for humans, too.\n\nOverall, people now have better hygiene habits, combined with a previously non-existent knowledge of the extistence of bacteria (and a somewhat irrational fear of them) that leads us to keep our homes rather more bacteria-free than back in the days of lead-based paint and water pipes.
435009
heated to a specific temperature to kill bacteria...as in the cas of MILK.
65717
It kills the bacteria, because the germs in the mouth are anaerobic. The peroxide releases oxygen and kills the germs. Usually on contact.
241963
When an infection enters your body your immune system increases the white blood cell count which controls the spread of the bacterial or virus.Your temperature rises to "fry" the infection.Antibiotics don't actually destroy bacteria,they prevent them from multiplying,and your immune system does the rest.
589663
To the best of my knowledge any Bacteria such as mentioned above can not survive in the air. They die very quickly once exposed to the environment.
931567
the bacteria's cell membrane is semi permeable to certain molecules.  bacteriacides probably have some form of "nutrient" in them to confuse the bacteria into taking it in.  It is sort of like rat poison.
596391
There are many different ways to make questionable water drinkable.\n\nBoiling- Bring it to a rolling boil (might want to leave it for 2 minutes just to be sure)\n\nChemical treatment- Outdoor stores carry products, follow package instructions\n\nFiltration- Water filters don't usually filter out virus' so chemical treatment is usually still needed\n\nUV light treatment- Special Lights are now on the market that can treat water in short time (See: http://www.bentgear.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_53_54&products_id=385)\n\nThere are other but not as common methods such as a machine that can produce chemicals that kill bacteria. \nHope I helped!
569027
Hydrogen peroxide will help kill most bacteria when used to clean an injury. It will also kill some live tissue, but so will a bacterial infection (which would probably damage more tissue than would cleaning the wound in the first place). In the future, just use enough to clean the wound, or, if you are wary about using hydrogen peroxide, you may purchase something like foaming antiseptic made by the Band-Aid company, which works well.
30298
It is used in lights and to kill bacteria