The final stage of the disease process (although it may not be the final stage of the infection) is the actual production of disease. Many microorganisms live in or on the body without causing disease. These organisms are called commensal organisms and may be beneficial to the host: the production of lactic and lactobacilli proprionic acidophilus in the vagina inhibits the growth of many other bacteria and many commensal organisms compete with pathogens for ‘living space’ in the gut. Microbial pathogens differ in that they cause dis- ease by one or more mechanisms like picture bellow. These include the following: (more…)

There are thousands of components to the immune system, and during the course of learning about some of these it can appear that the immune system is far more complex and complicated than necessary for achieving what is, on the surface, the simple task of eliminating an infectious organism. There are a number of reasons why the immune system is complex. The first of these is the desirability of eliminating pathogens without causing damage to the host. Getting rid of a pathogen is theoretically easy. If you had an infection in your liver you could produce a nasty toxin that would kill the pathogen; unfortunately it would also destroy your liver. Killing pathogens is not difficult, but getting rid of pathogens without damaging the host is much more complicated. (more…)