What is more dangerous: viruses or bacteria?

Viruses are more dangerous than bacteria.

Viruses and bacteria are both infectious microorganisms. Both are capable of causing various diseases, many of which have similar symptoms. They both also spread diseases in similar ways from person to person or by consuming contaminated water or food. That’s where the similarities between viruses and bacteria end.

Bacteria are single cells that can have a diverse variety of shapes and structural features. These cells are complex and capable of surviving and reproducing on their own, either inside or outside the body. They don’t need a host for their survival. Most bacteria are friendly and serve to facilitate several processes. For example, bacteria in the gut help in the digestion of food. Only a few bacteria cause infections in humans. These are known as pathogenic bacteria.

Viruses are smaller than bacteria. They also have a variety of shapes and structural features. However, unlike bacteria, viruses are not cells. They lack the ability to metabolize food and survive on their own. Viruses are parasitic microorganisms that need living cells or tissue to multiply and grow. They invade the host’s healthy cells and use the cells’ components to multiply and grow, causing infections. Some viruses kill the host cells as an intrinsic part of their life cycle. This destruction of host cells is what makes viruses more dangerous than bacteria.