The body of humans and animals is able to fight infections. This process is most fascinating and unique on Earth. Time to find out more about it.
Infections
What exactly is an infection?
An infection is a disease that passes from human to human, from animal to animal, from animal to human or from human to animal.
What causes an infection?
Infection can be caused by bacteria, viruses, prions, worms, insects or mites.
What is the difference between an infection, an infection and an inflammation?
An infection takes place when the body comes into contact with the pathogen. At this point, the body does not yet suffer from symptoms.
An infection is when the pathogen enters the body and begins to multiply itself.
Inflammation is the response to the infection. The body responds to the intruder by, for example, redness and pain. An inflamed part of the body is often swollen and feels warm.
The body can thus be infected by bacteria, viruses, prions, protozoa, worms, insects or mites. What is a prion?
A prion is a protein with an urge to multiply. Because proteins are present throughout the body, fighting prions is extremely difficult. Examples of prion infection include BSE (the mad cow disease) and scrapie (which occurs in sheep)
And what exactly is a virus?
A virus consists of a small piece of DNA that is covered by a protein coat. Viruses live in the cells of the body where they enter because they have to use the metabolism of the cells. They multiply with the help of the cell organs. When there are enough viruses in a cell, they burst the cell and penetrate further into the body. A virus is also difficult to fight because they are in the body cells. This is also the reason that antibiotics do not help with a viral disease. A vaccination (vaccination) can often help against viruses.
And what is a bacterium?
A bacterium is larger than a virus and is made up of its own cells with its own cell organs. The bacterium therefore does not need the body cell to multiply or for the metabolism. Antibiotics do help against bacteria, especially because the bacteria cells do not resemble the body cells at all.
Are there different types of bacteria?
There are six different types of bacteria, which we distinguish by how they look under a microscope.
- Spherical bacteria or knots that look spherical
- Rod-shaped bacteria, which look rod-shaped
- Spiral bacteria or spirils, which look spiral
- Bivalent spherical bacteria or diplococci, which appear rod-shaped with two black nuclei
- Piles of spherical bacteria or staphylocks that look like piles of spheres
- Chains of spherical bacteria or streptococci, where the spheres form a chain
And there were more bugs; protozoa?
Protozons are unicellular creatures whose cells are very similar to those of the body. Prescribing anti-protozoa is therefore risky. Fortunately, infection with protozoa does not occur often in the Netherlands. In the tropics, yes. Malaria is an example of this. The toxoplasma parasite does occur in the Netherlands, which falls under the protozoan species. This is the parasite that makes it dangerous for pregnant women to clean the litter box.
Can we also get infected by multicellular animals?
There are different types of multicellular parasites that can infect us. For example, think of:
- fungi
- yeasts
- worms
- insects
- mites
How do you get infected?
The different pathogens have different ways of entering the body. For example, a bacteria needs a wound in the skin to get in. Many pathogens enter through the mucous membranes, which are sensitive to pathogens. Many diseases therefore enter the body through the nose, mouth, or mouth.
The human body has a defense against infections. What do we mean by defense?
The defense is the body’s own capacity against pathogens. This works as follows: The body contains several lymph nodes. These lymph nodes filter the blood. A lymph node has many white blood cells that help defuse the pathogen. If a lymph node is working hard, you can feel this because the lymph node often thickens. For example, there is a lymph node in your neck, close to your ear.
The white blood cells absorb the pathogen, they eat it, as it were. The white blood cells can also release an antibody, which is a kind of poison against the pathogen.
