Categories: MICROBIOLOGY

Virus vs bacteria

Virus vs bacteria: The difference between viruses and bacteria lies in the fact that the virus is harmful to our health causing diseases, while bacteria are microorganisms with which we live daily, generating more benefits than diseases.

Both viruses and bacteria are microorganisms. The bacterium is considered a living organism because of its complexity and its capacity for independent reproduction. It is questioned if the virus is considered a living organism before finding a host cell, where it is housed in order to reproduce since without it it cannot ‘live’.

Both cause diseases, but they differ because bacteria not only cause diseases, but they are necessary for the balance of our body: they are called good bacteria, the intestinal flora that regulates our pH is an example of this.

Today, thanks to science and technology, it has been possible to use some viruses beneficially, such as bacteriophages. Scientists take advantage of the characteristics of the virus from staying in cells for later destruction to combat, for example, brain tumors.

Some of the basic characteristics of viruses and bacteria are: Virus vs bacteria

Virus	Bacterium
features generals	acellular microorganism, It has no own metabolism, It needs cells from other organisms called “host cells” to live and reproduce.	unicellular microorganism, live with living beings, It has the structure and DNA necessary to reproduce.
features specific	muta to adapt to its host. The largest virus is the size of the smallest bacteria.	It is a living organism, In the human body there is 90% of microbial life versus 10% of human cells.
Cause of disease	Infection of the virus that lodges in host cells by changing its DNA for its own, eventually destroying the cells.	Increase in the number of bacteria and products of your metabolism that cause the disease.
Infection	Systemic	Located
Examples of diseases	AIDS (HIV virus) Chickenpox Influenza Hepatitis B Herpes Rage	Pneumonia Infection feed bacteria (E. Coli) Meningitis Gonorrhea Infections in general
Prevention and cure	Preventive and antiviral vaccines.	Bacterial balance of the organism and antibiotics.