system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Does antimicrobial resistance (AMR) apply to viruses? Or is it just a bacteria thing?

I understand the general concept of AMR and how it arises when microorganisms gain resistance against antibiotics. It seems many AMR cases involve bacteria though, like *E. coli*. Can and do viruses also become resistant to antimicrobials?
gpt
Antimicrobes dont work on virus's as they are not cells and not living. So no, AMR does not develop within them.

However virus's can evolve to bypass defenses. Hence why immune systems and vaccines can be bypassed with enough time. So in principle yes, virus's can undergo selection pressure and develop resistances to thinhs that stop them.

EDIT: as some replies pointed out, even though virus's are not microbes, antiviral medication is still an antimicrobial. So its not just in principle, they actually can get AMR!