Abstract

MONTANO ICEDO, Mónica Lizeth. Virus or bacteria? That is the Question. Epistemus (Sonora) [online]. 2023, vol.17, n.34, pp.92-98.  Epub Dec 08, 2023. ISSN 2007-8196.  https://doi.org/10.36790/epistemus.v17i34.270.

Viruses and bacteria belong to different biological kingdoms; however, they share the characteristics of being microscopic, being lethal for human’s health, and being able of living in extreme environments. Despite these similarities, it should be clarified that they are not the same. Bacteria are unicellular organisms and viruses are particles that contain DNA or RNA. After the Covid-19 pandemic speculations and confusions about viruses were created. To evaluate the knowledge of the general audience, an open digital survey was created. It was found that 97.6% of the respondents did not consider viruses and bacteria as the same thing and 90.5% considers that the topic should be deepened since elementary school. Even though most of the respondents knew the difference between viruses and bacteria, contrary to what was predicted, an expected outcome was reached in the idea that the topic should be deepened in the educational plan.

Keywords : viruses; bacteria; pandemic.