Explain why antibiotics are ineffective against viruses.

Question

anonymous · Answer

Antibiotics work on bacteria and so have no effect on viruses.

anonymous · Answer

Bacteria is living, whereas virus is non-living
Antibiotics kill the bacteria by disrupting the DNA, and the cell wall
Bacteria and virus have different components, so antibiotics is only to kill bacteria, but not virus

anonymous · Answer

Antibiotics target biochemical structures or processes which are specific for the bacteria in question. Visuses do not 'perform' any such processes, thus they are not vulnerable to antibiotics. And because the antibiotics target bacteria-specific processes only, eucaryotic cells (like human cells) are not affected either..