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 tha ...
Most initial infections are local, i.e. the infectious agent gains entry to the body at a single site, e.g. via an insect bite ...
There are several pathogen types that can cause disease include many groups of single-celled microorganisms and larger multicel ...
Routes by which infectious organisms gain entry into the body include the skin, respiratory tract, gastro-intestinal (GI) tract ...
Exotoxins are secreted products, usually of bacteria but sometimes protozoa and fungi. They can act in a number of ways: • ...
Exotoxins are noxious proteins secreted by many bacteria. These toxins are often heat-labile and thus can be heat-inactivated for use as vaccines to prevent toxigenic immunity to bacteria disease. Many bacteria produce more than one protein exotoxin, making vaccine development more difficult. (more…)
The final stage of the disease process (although it may not be the final stage of the infection) is the actual production of di ...
One especially favored target for immune recognition is bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This macromolecule is found only in ...
Exotoxins are secreted products, usually of bacteria but sometimes protozoa and fungi. They can act in a number of ways: • ...
Bacteria cause allergic disease because of toxicity, invasiveness, immunopathology, or lends of these three mechanisms. Thus much ...
Antibodies which are also known as immunoglobulin are found in our blood and other bodily fluids. Antibodies are used as a mechan ...