What is a bacterial or viral infection? How is it treated?

 Many infections in humans are caused by bacteria or viruses. Some researchers think bacteria are related to plants. Bacteria are tiny single-celled organisms. They are one of the most successful life forms on Earth, and their habitats range from ice slopes to deserts.

Bacteria can be beneficial -- gut bacteria, for example, aid in digestion -- but other bacteria can cause a variety of infections. These types of bacteria are called pathogens. Many bacterial infections can be successfully treated with the correct antibiotics, despite the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Vaccination can be used to prevent many major bacterial diseases.

Viruses are smaller microorganisms that can only replicate inside the living cells of their host. Eradicating viruses is very challenging. As a result, many of the worst infectious diseases known to medicine are caused by viruses

How Pathogens and Viruses Enter the Body

Pathogenic bacteria must enter the human body to cause disease. The range of bacterial entry routes includes:

• reduce
• contaminated water or food
• close contact with an infected person
• exposure to feces of an infected person
• When an infected person coughs or sneezes, the exhaled droplets can cause infection.
• Indirectly, through contact with contaminated surfaces such as faucets, toilet handles, toys and diapers.

Viruses are spread from one person to another by:

• cough
• sneeze
• vomit
• Bitten by an infected animal or insect.
• Exposure to infected body fluids through activities such as sexual intercourse or sharing hypodermic needles.

Failure to wash hands after handling pets and animals is another way pathogens can be ingested by mouth.

Virus type

A virus is a tiny protein envelope that contains genetic material. Viruses pale in comparison when placed next to bacteria. For example, the polio virus is approximately 50 times smaller than the streptococcus, which is 0.003 millimeters long. Depending on the nucleic acid that makes up the core of the virus, viruses can be classified as RNA viruses or DNA viruses.

The four main types of viruses are:

• Icosahedron: The outer shell (capsid) is composed of twenty planes and has a spherical shape. Most viruses are icosahedral.
• The capsid is helical.
• The capsid is surrounded by a membrane that can change shape, but usually looks like a sphere.
• The genetic material is coated, but not capsid.

immune system response to viral infection

The fact that viruses hide inside cells poses a major challenge to the immune system. This hinders the ability of antibodies to reach them. Because the surface of infected cells changes as the virus multiplies, T lymphocytes, specialized immune system cells, recognize and destroy virus-containing cells. When viruses are released from infected cells, they are effectively eliminated by antibodies produced as a result of the infection or a previous immune response.

Treatment of viral infections

Antibiotics have no effect on viral infections. Because viruses are so simple, they rely on host cells to function. Therefore, antiviral drugs work differently from antibiotics by interfering with viral enzymes.

Currently, antiviral drugs are only effective against a small number of viral diseases, including influenza, herpes, and hepatitis B and C; however, research is ongoing. Interferon is a protein naturally produced by the body to fight viral infections. It is now manufactured in the laboratory and used to treat hepatitis C infection.

Vaccines against viral diseases are not always available.

Vaccines are available for several serious viral infections, including measles, mumps, and hepatitis A and B. A global vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to eradicate smallpox. However, some viruses, such as those that cause the common cold, can mutate from one individual to another. This is how infections caused by the same virus continue to evade the immune system. Vaccination against these types of viruses is difficult because by the time a vaccine is developed, the viruses have changed their structure.

prescription medicines used to treat viral infections

Sometimes, the following drugs may be prescribed to treat viral illnesses:

Antiretroviral drugs, such as Primovir and Paxista, can help people with viral infections live longer. Antiretroviral drugs slow the spread of the virus in the body by inhibiting the reproduction of the viral infection.