Which is the difference between an antibiotic and an antiviral?

There are no options in this question, the options are as follows:

A. Antibiotics build up immunity, and antivirals increase white blood cells.

B. Antibiotics treat the symptoms, and antivirals destroy the causing organism.

C. Antibiotics are in liquid form, and antivirals are in mist form.

D. Antibiotics treat patients who have Staphylococcus, and antivirals treat patients who have the flu.

The answer is D

Explanation:

Specific drugs are used to curb infection or diseases caused by specific pathogens. An infection can be caused by either bacteria, virus or fungi. Considering their different mechanism of infection, viral infections are treated with the use of ANTIVIRAL DRUGS while bacterial infections are treated with the use of ANTIBIOTICS.

According to this question, staphylococcus is a bacterial genus and hence, patients with staphylococcus can be treated with antibiotics while flu is a viral disease, hence can only be treated with antivirals.