Why antibiotics are ineffective against viral diseases like AIDS Flashcards
How do antibiotics kill bacteria?
By preventing the synthesis of peptide cross - linkages in bacterial cell walls, making them weak
What happens to bacteria when treated with antibiotics?
Water enters by osmosis, the weakened cell wall bursts and the bacterium dies
What is the bacterial cell wall made of?
Murein (peptidoglycan), a tough, inelastic material
Why doesn’t water entry normally cause bacteria to burst?
The cell wall resists expansion, preventing excessive water intake
Why are antibodies ineffective against viruses?
Viruses lack their own metabolic pathways and cell structures, so there are no targets for antibiotics to disrupt
Why can’t antibodies target the viral structure?
Viruses have a protein coat, not a murein cell wall, so antibiotics have no binding site to work on
How does a virus replicate?
It relies on the host cell for metabolic activities
Why can’t antibiotics reach viruses inside the body?
Viruses live inside host cells, making them inaccessible to antibodies
