Is it true that viruses cannot be killed with antibiotics?

Question

Lydia Adams · Accepted Answer

Yes it is still correct. The reason is that viruses are nonliving and are not considered to be cells.

This one of the most common problems that students have in leaning about viruses. They are not alive in any way. They can not be killed with antibiotics. The word antibiotic means against life and they are not alive. Think of them like a splinter. You do not think that splinters are alive, do you?

Doctors should not treat infections without doing a culture and sensitivity test. This is a "shotgun" approach that produces antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Viruses do not show up on these tests.

They are parasites that take over cells, make them reproduce by high jacking the host DNA and force the cell to make virus' parts instead of cell parts. Once the cell is filled with these parts, it just explodes and the new viruses invade more and more cells.

And just for fun information:

William Albracht · Answer

undefined Yes, it's true. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, not viral infections. Viruses are not affected by antibiotics because they operate differently from bacteria.