Question

Why won't antiboitics work against viruses?

Answer 1

there are medicines(antivirals)against viruses. eg: acyclovir, Zidovudine, etc
The antibiotics used against bacteria,protozoans and fungi won't act against viruses as they are extremely different particles and have different mode to infect the cells.

Answer 2

thanks Hakkuamatata!

Answer 3

Antibiotics act against organisms which shoe evidence of living processes, for example say cell wall synthesis or active "independent" replication of the cell etc. The substances that are called antibiotics actually target these living processes. For example penicillin will interfere with the synthesis and remodelling of cell wall. While aminoglycosides will interfere with protein synthesis.

Bacteria are living cells which show all the processes that a ususal living cell will conduct, thats why antibiotics are effective against bacteria.

Viruses are on the other hand very unique creatures, they are just an assembly of genetic material and some proteins. They do not have any living processes going on inside them, no protein synthesis, no cell wall synthesis. For replication too they will use the machinery of the living cell that they will infect. They will use its ribosomes to synthesize their proteins and assemble them into new viruses. And as they do not show evidence of any living processes in them, antibiotics cannot target them.