Question

Why is antibiotics ineffective in case of viruses?

Answer 1

Dear Student

Antibiotics act by blocking certain biochemical pathways which are essential for the survival of bacteria like cell wall formation, protein synthesis etc. However, antibiotics cannot be used against viruses. This is because, viruses do not possess any cellular machinery of their own to function. In fact, they get integrated with the host cell and use machinery of the host to survive. They are non-living outside the host and they have very few biochemical pathways of their own. Hence, it is difficult to find virus-specific targets. Therefore, the antibiotics are not effective against viral infections.

Regards