Virus Hoaxes By Rich Luhr. Fortunately, this is one kind of viral threat that usually isn't equal to its publicity.
Viruses are programs that are self-replicating and malicious.
To infect a computer, they are designed to attach to legitimate executable files such as games or applications, and thereby be downloaded to a computer without the knowledge of the recipient. To cause any harm, the virus-containing program must be executed. Without actually running the program, the virus is unable to replicate itself and wreak havoc, and instead merely lies dormant. These affect Word itself and are spread by sharing infected Word documents. It is impossible to get a virus by merely downloading and reading email.