[Lifestyle] What’s the Difference Between Bacterial and Viral Infections?

[-Apex]

What’s the Difference Between Bacterial and Viral Infections?

Bacteria and viruses can cause many common infections. But what are the differences between these two kinds of infectious organisms?

Bacteria are tiny microorganisms that are made up of a single cell. They’re very diverse and can have a large variety of shapes and structural features.

Bacteria can live in almost every conceivable environment, including in or on the human body.

Only a handful of bacteria cause infections in humans. These bacteria are referred to as pathogenic bacteria.

Viruses are another type of tiny microorganism, although they’re even smaller than bacteria. Like bacteria, they’re very diverse and have a variety of shapes and features.

Viruses are parasitic. That means they require living cells or tissue in which to grow.

Viruses can invade the cells of your body, using the components of your cells to grow and multiply. Some viruses even kill host cells as part of their life cycle.
What are common bacterial infections?

Some examples of bacterial infections include:
-strep throat
-urinary tract infection (UTI)
-bacterial food poisoning
-gonorrhea
-tuberculosis
-bacterial meningitis
-cellulitis
-Lyme disease
-tetanus
What are common viral infections?

Some examples of viral infections include:

-influenza
-common cold
-viral gastroenteritis
-chickenpox
-measles
-viral meningitis
-warts
-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
-viral hepatitis
-Zika virus
-West Nile virus
-COVID-19 is another illness caused by a virus. This virus commonly causes:

-shortness of breath
-fever
-dry cough
-Call emergency medical services if you experience the following symptoms:

-trouble breathing
-bluish lips
-severe fatigue
-consistent pain or tightness in the chest

Edited July 4, 2020 by !#Apex?