The Difference Between a Virus and Bacteria
Aside from parasites, there are two main types of pathogens that can cause illness: viruses and bacteria. While many outside the healthcare field often use these two terms interchangeably, there is a wide range of important differences between a virus and bacteria and the ways in which they affect the human body. To help clear up some of the confusion, we’ll explore the defining characteristics of both viruses and bacteria and the different types of illness that each pathogen can cause.
What is Bacteria?
Bacteria are single-celled living organisms that can be found quite literally anywhere you look on the planet. In fact, scientists have estimated that there are a total of five million trillion trillion (or five with thirty zeros following it) bacteria alive on planet earth. These durable organisms can be found surviving in even some of the planet’s harshest conditions, from the deepest depths of the ocean to toxic volcanic lakes.
While there are certainly plenty of types of bacteria that can cause illness, not all bacteria are bad. In fact, human beings – and almost every other animal on the planet for that matter – rely on bacteria for survival. Bifidobacteria, for example, are found throughout the digestive tract and play a major role in helping us digest our food.
However, there are plenty of bacteria that aren’t so beneficial as well. Any bacteria (along with any other organism) that can cause disease is known as a pathogen, and there is a wide range of bacteria that falls under this category. Common bacterial infections include:
- Strep throat
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Bacterial food poisoning
- Tuberculosis
- Lyme disease
- Whooping cough
- Syphilis
- Gonorrhea
The good news, though, is that most bacterial infections are easily treated – at least compared to viral infections. In most cases, a good antibiotic is all that is needed to wipe out a bacterial infection. Some types of bacteria, though, are more resistant to antibiotics than others. One of the main factors that leads to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics is the very fact that so many people in modern times treat bacterial infections with antibiotics. For organisms that multiply as quickly as bacteria, the evolutionary process of natural selection is dramatically accelerated. This has enabled many types of bacteria to evolve in such a way that they become resistant to the very drugs designed to kill them. Nevertheless, treating a bacterial infection still remains easier than treating a viral infection largely due to one simple reason – viruses aren’t actually alive.
What are Viruses?
Unlike bacteria, which are single-celled, living organisms that are capable of living inside or outside of a host body, viruses aren’t really organisms at all. Instead, viruses are a collection of non-living molecules that require a living host in order to survive.
While viruses aren’t living organisms, they are capable of reproducing. Viruses reproduce by attaching themselves to a host cell and injecting their own DNA into that cell. From there, they essentially commandeer the cell that they are attached to and begin using the cell’s own reproductive processes to produce more of the virus. This process continues, with newly formed viruses breaking out of their host cells and spreading to other cells to continue the cycle until the virus is eventually defeated by the host’s immune system.
Speaking of defeating a viral infection, the fact that viruses aren’t actually alive makes them quite tricky to kill. The immune system is capable of defeating viruses by producing T cells that are able to detect when a cell within the body has been infected with a virus and kill that particular cell before it is able to produce more of the viruses. However, the T cell required to defeat a unique strain of virus will be unique itself – and the human body won’t immediately know the exact type of T cell it needs to produce if it has never been exposed to that strain of virus before. For this reason, vaccines remain the most effective way to prevent viral infections since they essentially “teach” the body how to produce the T cells required to defeat a particular strain of virus so that those T cells will be present and ready for action if and when the virus rears its ugly head.
Common viral infections include illnesses such as:
- COVID-19
- Influenza
- Shingles
- Chickenpox
- The common cold
- Herpes
- HIV/AIDS
While viral infections are, on average, more difficult to treat, that doesn’t always mean that they are more serious. The common cold, for example, is a viral infection that presents no real threat beyond a few days of discomfort, while tuberculous is just one example of a bacterial infection that can quickly become deadly if not properly treated.
With this being the case, it’s important to take any sign of infection seriously. At St. Jude Labs, we offer a comprehensive testing menu that is able to detect the presence of any harmful bacteria or virus. To book an appointment to get tested by the infectious disease experts at St. Jude Labs, feel free to contact us today.
