A viral infection refers to an illness that stems from a virus rather than bacteria. Some viral infections are so commonplace that most people do not give them second thoughts. Those include the cold, flu and some stomach viruses. Others, however, are not so common and may be greater cause for concern. Those include HPV, herpes simplex virus and COVID-19. Most viruses go away on their own, but some linger. Lingering viruses can lead to chronic illness and/or life-threatening complications. For these latter reasons, affected persons and their families often wonder whether viral infections can be treated and, if so, how.
A viral infection is an illness you get from tiny organisms that invade your body and use your cells to make reproductions, or copies, of themselves. Though viral infections typically cause respiratory and digestive illnesses, they can affect other parts of the body as well. To fully understand what a viral infection is, it may help to first familiarize yourself with the term “virus.”
A virus is a tiny, invasive germ that hijacks normal, healthy cells and uses them to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. As a virus multiplies, its clones will start attacking, damaging and possibly killing the healthy cells. If your immune system is unable to ward off a virus invasion, or if it struggles to do so, you may become sick. However, you will not always become sick with a virus, as your immune system may be efficient enough to kill it before it kills your cells.
That said, some viruses multiply quickly and/or are too strong for the immune system to kill either right away or entirely. In these cases — which typically involve viruses such as COVID-19, herpes simplex, HIV/AIDS and Ebola — you may experience severe and long-term symptoms. In some cases, the condition that the virus causes may be chronic, meaning you will live with it for your entire life.
Viruses can attack virtually any part of the body. Common viruses, such as the cold and flu, attack the respiratory system, while gastrointestinal viruses attack the GI tract and digestive system. HIV attacks the immune system, while hepatitis targets the liver. Even the skin and blood system are not safe from viral germs.
Viruses are tiny pathogens that contain small amounts of DNA or RNA within a protective coating, like a capsid. Though they contain genetic information, they are too small to house all the “machinery,” so to speak, to reproduce themselves. Our cells, on the other hand, are large enough to house entire cell-reproducing “factories” — meaning the equipment and means necessary to receive instructions and carry them out. When a virus gets the urge to reproduce itself, as most organisms do, they seek out human or animal cells to invade. Once a viral germ breaks into a cell, it then has the machinery necessary to replicate itself as many times as the immune system allow. The more a virus replicates, the higher your risk of becoming sick.
There are hundreds of different viral infections floating around in the world. Luckily, however, only a small number infect humans. The ones that do enter the body via the mouth, nose, eyes, genitals or anus. In some cases, they enter the blood stream through an open wound or sore. Once inside the body, they immediately target cells that can help them reproduce.
Viral infections that infect humans fall into seven distinct categories:
Below is a brief overview of each category.
Respiratory infections are infections that infect that throat, nose, airways and lungs. Though not dangerous in and of themselves, some respiratory infections, if they continue long enough, can lead to sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and ear infections. Examples of common respiratory infections are as follows:
Haemorrhagic fevers are fevers that inhibit the blood’s ability to clot and ultimately weaken the blood vessels. If not carefully managed, such fevers can lead to life-threatening bleeding. Examples of these types of fevers are as follows:
Viral infections that affect the digestive system may affect the stomach and intestines or the liver. Infections that commonly affect the stomach and GI tract include rotavirus, norovirus and gastroenteritis — otherwise known as the stomach flu. The most common infection that affects the liver is hepatitis. Though infections of the stomach and GI tract typically run their course, hepatitis is often a lifelong condition.
STDs are typically spread through sexual contact and are often chronic, meaning they last for a person’s lifetime. Viral infections that cause STDs typically cause flare-ups, meaning a person may have symptoms for anywhere from one week to a couple of months, but then experience periods of remission. Common STDs include the following:
Some viral infections attack the nervous system, or your brain and spinal cord. When they do, the symptoms can become debilitating or life-threatening quickly. This is because, once the nervous system is under attack, it can result in paralysis, swelling of the brain or its covering (encephalitis and meningitis) and other severe consequences. Though far less common than other types of viral infections, the most common type of neurological infections are as follows:
Exanthematous infections are those that cause rashes either on the surface of the skin or beneath the skin. Rashes along the surface may present as blisters or bumps, while rashes under the skin come in the form of spots of blood under the surface. Common types of exanthematous infections are as follows:
In addition to a rash, many of these infections cause respiratory and other symptoms.
Congenital infections are those with which you are born. Though uncommon, you can be born with a virus if your mother had it while she was pregnant with you. Common types of viruses that pass from mother to foetus are as follows:
Symptoms of congenital viruses are dependent on the virus in question. However, common outcomes include developmental delays, serious health issues (such as vision and hearing loss) and neurological conditions.
Viral infections, like any other type of illness or disease, can present in numerous ways and are largely dependent on the virus in question. However, some symptoms are more common than others:
If your immune system detects the invader quickly enough, and if it is strong enough to fight it off before it has a chance to multiply exponentially, you may not experience any symptoms of a virus.
Almost all viral infections are contagious, meaning you can get them from other people, surfaces and even animals. You can also contract viral infections from the foods you eat. Some common ways in which viruses are spread are as follows:
Viruses rely on humans to multiply, so it is only natural that they easily spread between people through any means possible.
Few medications exist to combat viral infections, and those that are available exist to fight the most serious and life-threatening of illnesses. For infections that cause mild to moderate symptoms, such as the common cold and gastroenteritis, doctors typically recommend little more than at-home rest and possible over the counter medications.
If you live with a severe or life-threatening viral infection, your doctor may attempt to stop the virus from spreading or treat it through somewhat invasive means. For viruses that may require more than rest and OTC medications, your doctor may recommend one of the following.
Antiviral medications are medications that inhibit a virus’s ability to reproduce, or replicate, itself. By inhibiting a virus’s spread, these medications can prevent further cell damage and destruction, thereby helping infected persons maintain a certain degree of health. In most cases, healthcare providers prescribe them to manage chronic conditions. However, in cases of severe respiratory infections, they may prescribe them to shorten the duration of one’s illness.
Antiviral medications only work with a select few viral infections. Those are COVID-19, the flu, Hepatitis B and C, mpox and HIV.
Doctors will order post-exposure prophylaxis if a person was exposed to a quickly reproducing and life-threatening virus. One such virus is rabies, which, if not treated with a prophylaxis in time, can kill humans within two to 10 days of the onset of symptoms.
Post-exposure prophylaxis contains a mix of antiviral medications and immunoglobulin (antibody) treatment and can stop the virus before it has a chance to reproduce at all. Health professionals will administer this treatment if a person is at risk for one of the following:
If a person does develop a life-threatening viral infection, healthcare teams may recommend convalescent plasma treatment, which is essentially a blood transfusion. However, for this treatment to work, the blood must come from someone who once had the same virus as the infected person and survived it — meaning, the donor’s blood contains antibodies. Doctors will administer the plasma through an IV for quick results.
You may wonder if you can get an antibiotic for a viral infection. The answer is no. Antibiotics are designed to attack and kill bacteria, not viruses. They work for the former and not the latter because of their makeup. Bacteria have cell walls that can be attacked and penetrated, whereas virus cells are encased in a protective protein coating. This coating is tough and impenetrable, hence why no medications currently exist to kill a virus once it establishes itself.
If you contract a viral infection that does not require a more targeted approach, your doctor may recommend that you do what you can to manage symptoms on your own. Some tips that may help ease the symptoms and speed up your recovery are as follows:
If at-home measures do little to nothing to ease your symptoms or increase your comfort, you may want to try an over-the-counter medication. Though OTC medications will not speed up your recovery, they can help manage the following symptoms of viral infections:
For how long viral infections last depends entirely on the virus that invades the body. Some viral infections last for just a few days. Others last for a lifetime. Below is a brief overview of the average duration of certain types of viral illnesses:
Knowing which virus you have is important, as an accurate diagnosis will dictate your treatment and may, potentially, stop further destruction of healthy cells.
If not managed appropriately, viral infections can cause serious and possibly life-threatening complications. For some individuals, the complications may be immediate, while for others, they can take years to develop. Though rare due to medical advancements, a viral infection can lead to the following complications:
Some viral infections will resolve on their own within a couple of days to a few weeks. Others will never present symptoms. Some, however, may trigger symptoms that should be cause for concern. When these viruses attack, it is important to know when to contact your doctor rather than take the “wait and see” approach. Signs medical attention is necessary are as follows:
In extreme cases, an infected person cannot wait for an appointment with his or her doctor. You know your case is one such case when you develop the following symptoms:
If you develop one or more of these symptoms associated with a viral infection, seek emergency medical care immediately.
Preventing viral infections is not always possible, but there are steps you can take to substantially reduce your risk of contracting a virus. The most effective way of preventing severe viral infections, such as Hepatitis A and B, chickenpox, polio, rotavirus, shingles, flu, COVID-19, and measles, mumps and rubella, among others, is to get the corresponding vaccine. Though treatment might not yet exist to combat these viruses, vaccines for preventing them do.
Outside of the more serious viruses, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of transmission to yourself or your loved ones. Those involve good hygiene habits, such as the following:
Viral infections run the gamut, from everyday colds to HIV and rabies. They can affect just about any part of the body and last anywhere from a couple of days to a lifetime. Perhaps it is because of their drastically differing traits that researchers have yet to develop an effective treatment for any one viral infection, and that all infected persons can do when they do contract a virus is manage their symptoms and stop the spread. Given this information, the best thing you can do is to take steps to protect yourself and your loved ones. Adopting good hygiene habits, staying up-to-date on your vaccinations and practicing safe sex can all go a long way to ensuring your long-term health.