Which of the following is a correct statement about antibiotics and viral infections?

• A. Antibiotics accelerate viral growth
• B. Antibiotics do not affect viruses
• C. Antibiotics cure viral infections
• D. Antibiotics are effective against most viral infections

Answer: (B)

Antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses. They work by disrupting bacterial structures or processes that viruses don’t have, such as cell walls or bacterial ribosomes. Since viruses replicate inside our own cells using our cellular machinery and lack these bacterial targets, antibiotics don’t affect viruses. This means antibiotics don’t accelerate viral growth, they don’t cure viral infections, and they’re not effective against most viral infections. Using antibiotics for a viral illness is unnecessary and can lead to side effects and antibiotic resistance. The correct statement is that antibiotics do not affect viruses.