This video clip could be used to facilitate a discussion of the differences between viruses and bacteria, the ways antibiotics work to prevent the growth of bacteria, and the proper and improper use of antibiotics. Yet, the parents seem to agree with Hasbro. This difference of opinion could lead to a discussion about the need to help the public make intelligent choices based on facts. This clip could spark a discussion of the differences between an antibiotic and an antibacterial agent. Antibacterial agents include disinfectants and antiseptics, compounds that kill or inhibit bacteria.
Antibiotics work by disrupting certain bacterial metabolic processes.
They are not effective against viral agents. Bacteria, on the other hand, are living single cell organisms classified as eubacteria or archaebacteria. Antibiotics may work to interrupt a metabolic pathway in bacteria or to prevent bacteria from making their cell wall. Enzymes or protein-making machinery are usually inhibited and, thus, the pathway cannot go to completion. These antibacterial chemicals do not work against viruses because they do not share the same proteins that the antibiotics act against.