Why are infections by fungi and protists usually more difficult to treat than bacterial infections?

Answer 1

Viral infections are harder to treat than bacterial infections because bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics, while viruses cannot

Fungal infectons are difficult to treat because of the nature of fungi. They are phylogenetically very closely related to animals and have a very similar biochemical makeup to animals. In treating an internal fungal infection it is difficult to find a drug that kills the fungus and not the animal. Most fungi are killed by the immune system, and if it is impossible for the immune system to kill the fungus on its own, then the animal is likely to not survive.

Bacteria on the other hand are prokaryotic, making them very different from eukaryotic life (plants, animals, fungi, and protists). It is easy to target the bacteria cells as they are so biochemically different from our own. The only thing needed to do to kill a bacterium is to destroy the cell wall, which can be done using a number of drugs. Although it may be true that bacteria is easier to kill inside a human than fungus is, there are antibiotic resistant bacteria now.

Answer 2

Fungi differ from bacteria in that the fungus has a rigid cell wall that is made up of chitin and various polysaccharides and a cell membrane that contains ergosterol. This makes the cell resistant to antibiotics

Answer 3

Infections by fungi and protists are usually more difficult to treat than bacterial infections because, like humans, these microbes don't have cell walls. Many antibiotics work by affecting the cell walls of bacteria, and thus avoid causing harm to human cells.

Answer 4

because antibiotics dont work on them e.g paracetamol

Answer 5

Fungi are eukaryotic and therefore have cellular machinery that is very similar to that of their hosts