Bacterial infections can usually be treated with specific __________.

• A. Vaccines
• B. Antibiotics
• C. Antivirals
• D. Antifungals

Answer: (B)

Antibiotics are medicines that specifically kill bacteria or stop them from multiplying, exploiting differences between bacterial cells and human cells. They often interfere with bacterial cell walls, protein-making machines, or DNA replication, which human cells don’t do in the same way. Vaccines, on the other hand, are preventive tools that train the immune system to recognize bacteria or viruses before illness occurs, not to treat an active infection. Antivirals target viruses, not bacteria, and antifungals target fungi. So when addressing a bacterial infection, antibiotics are the appropriate treatment because they directly target the organisms causing the infection.