Differences Between Bacteria and Virus

March 9, 2018

Bacteria 1. very small in size.	Virus 1. smaller than bacteria
2. can be seen under compound microscope.	2. can be seen only under an electron microscope.
3. shows metabolic activities.	3. do not show metabolic activities.
4. living cellular organisms.	4. acellular particles. However, show living properties inside the host.
5. cell wall is present except Mycoplasma.	5. cell wall is absent.
6. do not need a host organism for reproduction.	6. need host organism for reproduction.
7. DNA and RNA floating freely in cytoplasm.	7. DNA/RNA strand enclosed inside a coat of protein.
8. harmful as well as useful.	8. usually harmful, though useful in genetic engineering.
9. localized infection.	9. systemic infection.
10. possess cellular machinery.	10. do not possess cellular machinery.
11. treated by antibiotics.	11. do not respond to antibiotics.
12. ranges from 0.2-1.5 µ in diameter and 2-10 µ in length except few.	12. ranges from 20-400 nm except few.
13. bacterial illness commonly lasts longer than 10 days.	13. viral infection lasts 2-10 days.
14. bacterial illness notoriously causes a fever.	14. viral infection may or may not causes fever.
15. not known as biological puzzle.	15. known as biological puzzle.
16. food poisoning, gastritis, ulcers, meningitis, pneumonia, etc are bacterial diseases.	16. AIDS, common cold, influenza, polio, etc are viral diseases.
17. examples: Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholera, Escherichia coli, etc. Image source: microbiologysociety	17. examples: HIV, Hepatitis B virus, Rhino virus, Adeno virus, etc. Image source: newsmedical