h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can I offer a comment on your section on the different destructive force of viruses compared to bacteria. The problem with virus infections is not so much decontaminating outside of the body. Although this is important, a hefty slug of bleach will knacker most viruses (just like bacteria). The major problem is after infection and the lack of effective treatment. Bacteria can be relatively easily killed with antibiotics because they exist as living organisms with many differences in their fundamental biochemistry from human cells. It's these differences that antibiotic drugs target allowing them to disrupt bacterial biochemistry without significantly affecting the human cells at normal durg doses. Viruses, as you say, hijack the human cell's biochemical mechanism for their own ends. However, importantly, they don't tend to fundamentally change the biochemistry of the cell merely exploit existing mechanisms. This makes it very difficult to develop drugs which target infected cells as these cells "look" no different to uninfected cells.