Explain why such antibiotics are not effective against viruses and certain kinds of bacteria.?!
Question: Explain why such antibiotics are not effective against viruses and certain kinds of bacteria..?
Answers:
Antibiotics are not effective against viruses because viruses are different from bacteria in every way -- in structure, behavior and in the characteristics they have. Viruses aren't technically living, they're fragments of DNA or RNA. Your question is like asking why water isn't effective in cleaning up oil (virus) when it works on dirt (bacteria).
As for the second part of your question: There is variety among bacteria. They are not all the same. There are aerobic, anaerobic, gram-positive, gram-negative, autotrophic, heterotrophic. There 15 phyla of bacteria. A phylum is a scientific classification. The way to attack them depends on their specific characteristics. Wide-spectrum antibiotics work against several types of bacteria that have one or more characteristics in common and narrow-spectrum antibiotics (also called targeted antibiotics) are geared for specific types of bacteria. And as for methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-resistant, Bacitracin-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria, the reason why some antibiotics aren't effective is right there in the names. These bacteria have "learned" to develop resistance in the form of plasmids, extra-chromosomal elements, and this is genetically passed on.Health Question & Answer
As for the second part of your question: There is variety among bacteria. They are not all the same. There are aerobic, anaerobic, gram-positive, gram-negative, autotrophic, heterotrophic. There 15 phyla of bacteria. A phylum is a scientific classification. The way to attack them depends on their specific characteristics. Wide-spectrum antibiotics work against several types of bacteria that have one or more characteristics in common and narrow-spectrum antibiotics (also called targeted antibiotics) are geared for specific types of bacteria. And as for methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-resistant, Bacitracin-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria, the reason why some antibiotics aren't effective is right there in the names. These bacteria have "learned" to develop resistance in the form of plasmids, extra-chromosomal elements, and this is genetically passed on.Health Question & Answer
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