Bacterial and Viral
infections have many things in common.
Both of the infections are caused by microbes, namely bacteria and virus
respectively, and these are spread by things such as coughing, sneezing, contact
with infected people especially through kissing and sex, contact with
contaminated food and water, contact with pets, livestock and even insects like
ticks and fleas. Microbes also likely to
cause acute infections, chronic infections and even infections which may cause
symptoms at first but can reactivate over a period of months and years.
Bacteria
Bacteria are single celled
complex microorganisms that exist in abundance in both living hosts and in all
areas of the planet, in the soil, in water, with a rigid wall and a think
rubbery membrane surrounding the fluid inside the cell. They can either be good, beneficial or bad,
harmful for the health of plants, humans and other animals be it domesticated
or wild that come in contact with them. They
can reproduce on their own and can survive in different environments, including
extreme heat and cold, and in human body.
Most bacteria are harmless and some are actually helpful in our body for
digesting food, destroying disease causing microbes and providing essential
nutrients. When an unwanted bacterium
gets into the body, it quickly begins to divide and spread, causing an
infection. Common bacterial infections
include strep throat, ear infections and urinary tract infections amongst
others. Infections caused by harmful
bacteria can almost always be cured with antibiotics but these should be taken
only under instructions from doctors.
The discovery of antibiotics for bacterial infections is considered an
important breakthroughs in the medical history.
Unfortunately, bacteria are very adaptable and the overuse of
antibiotics has made them resistant to antibiotics and is the cause of serious
health problems nowadays.
Virus
A Virus is a microscopic
organism consisting of genetic material, RNA or DNA and surrounded by a
protein, lipid(fat), or glycoprotein coat and is acellular, means has no cell
structure and requires a living host to survive, it causes illness in its host
as they cannot reproduce without a host cell.
Once a virus contacts a host cell, it will insert genetic material into
the host and take over that host’s function.
This infected cell continues to reproduce but now it reproduces more
viral protein and genetic material instead of the usual cellular products. It is this process that earns the viruses the
classification of a “parasite”. Virus
comes in a wide array of shapes and sizes.
Disease caused by virus including Influenza, hepatitis, shingles, HIV,
Epstein-Barr and even some types of cancer.
