An antibiotic is useless against which type of organism?

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Prepare for the Anti-infective Medications Test with comprehensive multiple-choice questions and explanations. Dive into study materials and enhance your understanding to succeed in your exam!

Multiple Choice

An antibiotic is useless against which type of organism?

Explanation:
Antibiotics target features that are present in bacteria but not in viruses, such as the bacterial cell wall or bacterial ribosomes. Viruses don’t have their own ribosomes or a peptidoglycan cell wall and they replicate by hijacking the host cell’s machinery, so there’s nothing for an antibiotic to disrupt without harming the host. That’s why antibiotics are useless against viruses. In contrast, bacteria have the targets antibiotics attack, fungi require antifungals, and protozoa require antiprotozoals.

Antibiotics target features that are present in bacteria but not in viruses, such as the bacterial cell wall or bacterial ribosomes. Viruses don’t have their own ribosomes or a peptidoglycan cell wall and they replicate by hijacking the host cell’s machinery, so there’s nothing for an antibiotic to disrupt without harming the host. That’s why antibiotics are useless against viruses. In contrast, bacteria have the targets antibiotics attack, fungi require antifungals, and protozoa require antiprotozoals.

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