In July 1945, the Italian pharmacologist Giuseppe Brotzu discovered the cephalosporin for the first time in the sea near a sewage outfall in Su Siccu, Cagliari harbor in Sardinia, from aerobic mold. Cephalosporins are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections that are susceptible to this class of antibiotic. The second to fourth generation cephalosporins have increased activity against Gram-negative bacteria, which results in their more spectral antibacterial capability. The first generation cephalosporins primarily target Gram-positive bacteria. Compared to the third-generation cephalosporin, the most recent one is more resistant to β-lactamases.
