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Strategically, every day, microorganisms invade our bodies causing an endless number of diseases that, lacking precise diagnosis and treatment, can take us from a simple illness to a complication so great that it even causes death. For this reason, it is very important to know the differences between the main agents responsible for most infections: viruses and bacteria.
Viruses, while they are in the environment, are inert structures, without life of their own, that need a host to infect them and thus be able to reproduce. These invade the cells of our body, replicate inside them and in this process destroy them.
"Unlike viruses, bacteria are organisms with greater development. They have their own metabolism, so their reproduction does not require a host. They act by changing the internal environment of the cell they infect and producing toxins that poison the cells and tissues.!
Dr. Marta Montfort
Its dissemination and transmission is varied. Some require the use of transmission vectors such as the Dengue Virus, while others do not require vectors such as the rhinovirus (the flu virus), which spreads in the air through droplets of saliva expelled through the throat. the coughs and sneezes of people contaminated with the virus. These move through the air and come into contact with the nose or mouth of people who are nearby, infecting them. Likewise, we can come into contact with environmental surfaces or objects (splashed by these droplets) and be infected by touching our nose, mouth or eyes without properly washing our hands.
Other routes of infection are fecal-oral, such as norovirus and enteric adenovirus, which cause viral gastroenteritis, whose transmission occurs through the ingestion of infected water and food, due to direct contamination of the same when handling them with dirty hands. or when we put these in our mouths (mainly children); by direct contact with infected people (usually children), for example rotavirus; and through sexual contact, through exposure to infected blood or physiological secretions as in HIV and HPV infection.
Unlike viruses, bacteria are organisms with greater development. They have their own metabolism, so their reproduction does not need a host. They act by changing the internal environment of the cell they infect and producing toxins that poison cells and tissues.
Antibiotics only work against infections of bacterial origin and have no effect on viruses. Treatment for diseases of viral origin is aimed at reducing symptoms (nasal congestion, sneezing, coughing, tearing, etc.) and not at eliminating the pathogen.
This is the main reason why on many occasions doctors do not prescribe antibiotics, even though the patient presents the main symptom that is associated with bacterial infections: fever.
Some diseases caused by viruses are: Influenza, Measles, Dengue, Infectious Mononucleosis, Poliomyelitis, among others, while Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Meningitis, Whooping Cough, Streptococcal Tonsillitis, etc., are caused by bacteria.
The most effective way to prevent diseases, whether viral or bacterial, is by adopting appropriate hygiene measures as it reduces the levels of harmful organisms through cleaning.
Among the main recommendations for people with viral or bacterial infections are:
Antibiotics are the most important medications to attack bacterial diseases and restore health. Ingesting antibiotics in viral diseases causes bacteria to develop resistance to them, with the consequence that, when they are used again, they do not fulfill their objective, which is to eradicate the bacteria. Its proper use can save lives. Let us avoid its inappropriate and indiscriminate use.
The next time you go to your doctor and he doesn't prescribe antibiotics, don't worry, remember that viruses cannot be fought with them and don't forget that self-medication can lead us from a mild illness to death.
Dr. Marta Montfort
General medicine
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