{"id":85200,"date":"2025-06-01T03:07:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=85200"},"modified":"2025-06-01T03:07:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T03:07:31","slug":"an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/","title":{"rendered":"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Which one of the following is the most appropriate reason for this ?<\/p>\n<p>[amp_mcq option1=&#8221;An antibiotic can break RNA only, whereas virus has DNA.&#8221; option2=&#8221;An antibiotic is a carbohydrate in its chemical nature, whereas a vaccine is a protein which works well to kill a virus.&#8221; option3=&#8221;Only a vaccine can break the genetic material of a virus.&#8221; option4=&#8221;A virus does not use biochemical pathways which can be blocked by an antibiotic. But a vaccine can boost an immune system to fight the virus.&#8221; correct=&#8221;option4&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"psc-box-pyq-exam-year-detail\">\n<div class=\"pyq-exam\">\n<div class=\"psc-heading\">This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n<div class=\"psc-title line-ellipsis\">UPSC CDS-1 &#8211; 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pyq-exam-psc-buttons\"><a href=\"\/pyq\/pyq-upsc-cds-1-2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"psc-pdf-button\" rel=\"noopener\">Download PDF<\/a><a href=\"\/pyq-upsc-cds-1-2021\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"psc-attempt-button\" rel=\"noopener\">Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"pyq-correct-answer\">\nAntibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell&#8217;s machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host&#8217;s immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"pyq-key-points\">\nAntibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"pyq-additional-information\">\nThe development of antiviral drugs is distinct from antibiotics and targets specific steps in the viral life cycle within host cells.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Which one of the following is the most appropriate reason for this ? [amp_mcq option1=&#8221;An antibiotic can break RNA only, whereas virus has DNA.&#8221; option2=&#8221;An antibiotic is a carbohydrate in its chemical nature, whereas a vaccine is a protein which works well to &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/#more-85200\">Detailed Solution<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1087],"tags":[1110,1117,1139],"class_list":["post-85200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-cds-1","tag-1110","tag-biology","tag-viral-diseases","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.2 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell&#039;s machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host&#039;s immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure. Antibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell&#039;s machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host&#039;s immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure. Antibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T03:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic","description":"Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell's machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host's immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure. Antibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic","og_description":"Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell's machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host's immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure. Antibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T03:07:31+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/","name":"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Whic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T03:07:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T03:07:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria by targeting biochemical pathways essential for bacterial life (like cell wall synthesis, protein synthesis, or DNA replication) which are not present or significantly different in host cells. Viruses, however, lack these metabolic pathways and hijack the host cell's machinery for replication. Therefore, antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. A vaccine, on the other hand, contains weakened or inactivated viruses or viral components (antigens). When administered, it stimulates the host's immune system to produce antibodies and other immune responses specific to the virus. This prepares the body to fight off the actual virus upon subsequent exposure. Antibiotics target bacterial processes; viruses lack these processes. Vaccines stimulate the host immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens like viruses.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/an-antibiotic-is-not-useful-against-a-virus-whereas-a-vaccine-is-whic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPSC CDS-1","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/category\/upsc-cds-1\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. 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