Recognize the importance of recycle, reduce, reuse, recover and repair in waste management.
What’s the difference?
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 are 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.
Read on to learn more about the differences between these two types of infections.
How are bacterial infections spread?
Many bacterial infections are contagious, meaning that they can be spread from person to person.
There are many ways this can occur, including:
close contact with a person who has a bacterial infection, including touching and kissing.
contact with the body fluids of an infected person, particularly after sexual contact, or when
an infected person coughs or sneezes
transmission from mother to child during pregnancy or birth
coming into contact with contaminated surfaces, such as doorknobs or faucet handles, and
then touching your face, nose, or mouth