'Photo-antibiotics' : the light in the photoinactivation of microorganisms = Foto-antibiótcos : a luz na fotoinativação de microorganismos

The interest in photodynamic inactivation (PDI) has been motivated by the increasing appearance of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics, due to the excessive or inappropriate use of these drugs. PDI involves the combination of a photosensitizer, light and molecular oxygen in order to cause selective destruction of microorganisms. This technique has been proven to be effective against viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. This paper aims to highlight some of the results already obtained from the PDI studies