Why don't antibiotics work on viruses?

Question

Both advanced and basic answers welcome.

Advanced answers welcome.

*Note: I'm talking about specific biochemical mechanisms here, I already know that viruses are non-living etc.

Answer 1

Most antibiotics work by piercing the membranes of bacteria cells (like penicillin). Whether this works or not depends on the composition of the membrane: membranes are very specific to different types of cells. This is how antibiotic resistance is developed in bacteria, too: some membranes will learn to adapt so that their membranes cannot be pierced by the compounds. However, viruses have capsids in place of bacteria membranes, and are not targeted by antibiotics for this reason. Furthermore, viruses don't exist just floating around in the system, they are hiding inside normal cells, where they are using the cell's protein production machinery to reproduce. Antibiotics don't target normal human cells either, so they have nothing to detect. It is important to rememebr that the antibiotic doesn't work because it is detecting sickness, rather, it works because it's a compound which is known to be deadly to bacteria.

Answer 2

First of all, Antibiotics = bacteria.
But mainly viruses alter DNA of their host cells, so it is modifying its DNA. The main way to deal with viruses is to get immunisations which was weakened forms of viruses, but there's no guarantee that the virus is completely immune to it after. It just means that your body can adapt to the virus before you actually get the virus within your body.
Viruses require a host, remember, and aren't 'alive'.
Antibiotics will kill bacteria, which are considered 'alive'.

Answer 3

Antibiotics work on cells. Viruses are not made of cells. Some antibiotics prevent cells from reproducing, and some antibiotics interfere with the production of a cell wall. Viruses don't reproduce and they don't have cell walls.

Answer 4

Because most viruses replicate inside cells, where the antibiotics can't touch them. even if they could, antibiotics usually work by attacking bonds in the cell membrane such as petidoglycan, causing the cell to lyse and be destroyed.
since viruses are not composed of cells it is impossible for this action to take place.

Answer 5

Antibiotics attack cellular component of the bacterium that are different than host animals cells.
The virus has no cellular components it uses the host cell's components.
Antiviral agents mostly interfere with the protiens that are coded-for by virus's DNA or interfere with the replicatuion of the virus DNA.

Answer 6

viruses r living only inside the organ,they r dead outside the body. when our body identifies the viruse and makes an antibodies,viruse immediately changes its shape and thus it can not b killed

Answer 7

because antibiotics kill bacteria!

But virus isn't a bacteria - it's a rna that uses other living cells to reproduce in