Bacteria vs. Virus — What's the Difference?

Living entities responsible for certain infections and diseases but also essential for certain biological processes.

Agents that mutate frequently, leading to various strains.

Ubiquitous organisms that have a simple structure but can perform complex functions.

Microscopic entities known for their disease-causing abilities.

Single-celled microorganisms that exist independently.

Non-living particles containing genetic material enclosed in a protein coat.

Microbes that can have both beneficial and harmful effects on their environment.

Pathogens that can infect various organisms, from plants to animals.

Organisms without a defined nucleus, classified as prokaryotes.

Infectious agents that cannot reproduce without a host cell.

Bacteria ( (listen); common noun bacteria, singular bacterium) are a type of biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms.

A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

Plural of bacterium.

Any of various submicroscopic agents that infect living organisms, often causing disease, and that consist of a single or double strand of RNA or DNA surrounded by a protein coat. Unable to replicate without a host cell, viruses are typically not considered living organisms.

(US) A type, species, or strain of bacterium.

A disease caused by a virus.

Alternative form of bacterium.

A computer program or series of commands that can replicate itself and that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other files or programs which users later transfer to other computers. Viruses usually have a harmful effect, as in erasing all the data on a disk.

Lowlife, slob (could be treated as plural or singular).

A harmful or destructive influence

An oval bacterium, as distinguished from a spherical coccus or rod-shaped bacillus.

A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure consisting of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and often causes disease in the host organism; such agents are often classed as nonliving infectious particles and less often as microorganisms.

See Bacterium.

(uncountable) A quantity of such infectious agents

(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered plants

A disease caused by such an infectious agent; a viral illness.

(archaic) Venom, as produced by a poisonous animal etc.

(computing) A type of malware which can covertly transmit itself between computers via networks (especially the Internet) or removable storage such as disks, often causing damage to systems and data; also computer virus.

Any type of malware.

(figurative) Any malicious or dangerous entity that spreads from one place or person to another.

To send or infect an electronic device with a computer virus.

Contagious or poisonous matter, as of specific ulcers, the bite of snakes, etc.; - applied to organic poisons.

The causative agent of a disease, .

Any of numerous submicroscopic complex organic objects which have genetic material and may be considered as living organisms but have no proper cell membrane, and thus cannot by themselves perform metabolic processes, requiring entry into a host cell in order to multiply. The simplest viruses have no lipid envelope and may be considered as complex aggregates of molecules, sometimes only a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and a coat protein. They are sometimes viewed as being on the borderline between living and nonliving objects. They are smaller than living cells in size, usually between 20 and 300 nm; thus they pass through standard filters, and were previously referred to as filterable virus. The manifestations of disease caused by multiplication of viruses in cells may be due to destruction of the cells caused by subversion of the cellular metabolic processes by the virus, or by synthesis of a virus-specific toxin. Viruses may infect animals, plants, or microorganisms; those infecting bacteria are also called bacteriophages. Certain bacteriophages may be non-destructive and benign in the host; - see bacteriophage.

Fig.: Any morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions; something that poisons the mind or the soul; as, the virus of obscene books.

A program or segment of program code that may make copies of itself (replicate), attach itself to other programs, and perform unwanted actions within a computer; also called computer virus or virus program. Such programs are almost always introduced into a computer without the knowledge or assent of its owner, and are often malicious, causing destructive actions such as erasing data on disk, but sometime only annoying, causing peculiar objects to appear on the display. The form of sociopathic mental disease that causes a programmer to write such a program has not yet been given a name. Compare trojan horse{3}.

(virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein

A harmful or corrupting agency;

A software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer;

Yes, bacteria contain DNA, and so do many viruses, though some viruses contain RNA.

No, many bacteria are beneficial, while viruses are primarily considered harmful.

Bacteria reproduce through binary fission, while viruses require host cells.

No, antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses.

The common cold is caused by a virus, not bacteria.

Viruses can survive but cannot reproduce outside a host, whereas bacteria can live and reproduce independently.

Individual bacteria are microscopic, unlike virus particles, which are even smaller.

Antiviral drugs disrupt the virus's life cycle, while antibiotics target bacteria.

Yes, bacteria are generally larger than viruses.

Yes, probiotic bacteria benefit health, unlike viruses, which are typically harmful.

Antibiotics target structures or functions specific to bacteria, not viruses.

The human body hosts more bacteria, especially in the gut, though viruses are also present.

Most viruses are contagious, while bacteria can be both non-contagious and contagious.

Some vaccines target bacteria, while many are designed for viruses.

Some bacteria, known as extremophiles, can live in extreme conditions, unlike most viruses.