Why is fighting with viruses harder than fighting with bacteria?

Neutrophils and macrophages phagocytize (swallow) bacteria without regard to which type it is. While there are also non-specific defenses to viri (the plural of virus), the same defenses are used against bacteria as well. There are specific defenses against certain bacteria and viri that are used to combat them (antibodies and antigens), but one usually has to be exposed to the pathogen before the antigens/antibodies can be produced by lymphocytes, although there are exceptions, known as innate immunities.

The main difference between our ability to fend off attacks by bacteria and viri is the phagocytic ability of the previosly names white blood cells (leukocytes) having the ability to swallow and then neutralize the bacteria. This means more general defense against bacteria than against viri and therefore easier to fight, although with memory t cells, after we have produced and antigen to fight viri, we continue producing it and it remains present in the blood stream. This is known as acquired immunity, and is the reason why most people wont get diseases like chicken pox more than once in their lifetime.

Why is fighting with viruses harder than fighting with bacteria?agv

Viruses are obligatory intracellular parasites. Whilst outside of a cell they are inert and protected by the protein coat surrounding the active DNA/RNA.

This makes them hard to attack with drugs. They are attacked by the body's defenses of course though this response takes a few days to have an effect.