What is Virus and What is Bacteria – Difference between Virus and Bacteria

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.

Antivirals and Antibiotics – Use of Antivirals for flue and misuse of Antibiotics

When you are diagnosed with common cold or flu, you will want something to make you feel better and that too within a short period and you are likely to ask your doctor for antibiotics without understand the cause of your symptoms whether it is viral or bacterial.  The first thing that the doctor will do is to give you medicines for pain and fever relievers but it may take few days to more than a week for you to get well, and in spite of giving the above, if you are not relieved from the viral infection, the doctor may start you on antiviral drugs, antiviral drugs are prescription medicines pills, liquid, inhaled powder that fight against the flu in your body.  Sometimes the situation is not always clear and people can get bacterial complications from the flu which can be sometimes life-threatening unless they are treated with antibiotics.  The doctor will try to diagnose whether it has got bacterial cause to it and accordingly the doctor might even  prescribe you antibiotics which is also known as anti bacterials, and these are medicines that destroy or slows down the growth of bacteria which might be the cause for your prolonged suffering.

Antivirals are those drugs that are used to treat people who have already been infected by a virus. These are also used to prevent or limit infection when given before or shortly after exposure, before illness occurs. Note that an antiviral drug is effective only when administered within a certain time frame before or after exposure and is effective during the time that the drug is being administered.

Antibiotics are those medicines that interfere with the reproduction of bacteria and can, therefore, only used for treating bacterial infections. Viral diseases, like flu, are not to be treated with antibiotics. Also, inappropriate use of antibiotics due to not able to diagnose the cause of infection also contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance which is a growing health concern. Secondary bacterial infections that may occur in tissues that have been damaged by influenza virus infection may well be treated with antibiotics.  When you are being administered with antibiotics by the doctor, ensure that you complete the antibiotics course even if your symptoms subside, this is very important so that that particular strand of bacteria do not have resistance to that antibiotics when it happens next time.

It has been observed that overuse of antibiotics has contributed to a global antibiotic resistance crises, and due to this majority of those people who have used antibiotics one time or the other are more likely to have bacterial resistance develop in their body.

Difference between Common Cold and Flu needs to be understood

Now most of us will not know the difference between common cold and flu, but these needs to be understood at the same time is not easy to differential when it is a common cold or when it is a flue.  While common colds can leave you drained and feeling unwell for the most part, which cause nasal congestion, fever, and is over in a few days, they are rarely medically serious.

Flu, on the other hand, can actually, sometimes be very serious, and come on quickly.  Symptoms of flu include sore throat, fever, headaches, your lungs are affected to a greater extent, especially for those who are already vulnerable, in addition to above, those suffering from flu will also experience symptoms like sweating, feeling shivery, more severe muscle aches and pains, and dry chesty cough, loss of appetite and will make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks, and may also lead to further complications like pneumonia and hospitalizations, particularly the young and the elderly or people with lung or heart problems.  If you notice shortness of breath, you should know your doctor immediately.  Just like the cold viruses, flu viruses also enter your body through the eyes, mouth or nose.  Every time you touch your hand to one of these areas, and other places, you could be passing these virus to yourself as well as others.

When you cannot take the onslaught of attack by the virus in case of flu, the headaches, fever of more than 101, you will naturally go to a hospital.  The doctor will prescribe you medicine to alleviate the symptoms associated with the flu.  The doctor might even prescribe you antibiotics which should be used only rarely and never forget to take the complete dosage as per the doctor’s advice.  Never stop taking antibiotic half way assuming that your flu symptoms are gone and that you are cured.  More on this in next episode. 

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Nowadays, most of us do not keep a record of common cold, but keeping record of when you got the cold/flu and what medication was taken, what test was done, and the results of the laboratory test, come in handy sometimes in the future.  I can understand that in some countries, the medical records are not given to the patients but at least keeping a track of those records that can be tracked might be useful at a later stage.