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Infection
The detrimental colonisation of a host organism by a foreign species, the infecting organism seeks to utilise the host's resources to multiply, usually at the expense of the host. The infecting organism, or pathogen, interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss of an infected limb, and even death.
The branch of medicine that focuses on infections and pathogens is ‘infectious disease’.
The host's response to infection is inflammation.
A pathogen is usually considered a microscopic organism, however the definition is broader, and include:
- Parasites -
A symbiosis between parasite and host, whereby the relationship is beneficial for the former but detrimental to the latter, is characterised as parasitism. - Fungi – Some fungi are parasites on humans and may can cause serious diseases several
of which may be fatal if untreated. People with immuno-
deficiencies are particularly susceptible. - Viruses -
From the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison. A small infectious agent that can only replicate inside the cells of another organism. From the viewpoint of a materials scientist, viruses can be regarded as organic nanoparticles [1] - Prions -
an infectious agent that is composed primarily of protein. All known prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue, and all are currently untreatable and are invariably fatal. [2]
Four types of anti-
- Antibacterial.
- Antiviral.
- Antitubercular.
- Antifungal
Primary and secondary infection may either refer to succeeding infections or different stages of one and the same infection.
Bacterial and Viral infections can both cause symptoms such as:
- Malaise.
- Fever.
- Chills.
This can be problematic, even for a doctor, to distinguish which is the cause of a specific infection. It's important to distinguish between the two, viral infections cannot be cured by antibiotics. [4]
Notes
It would be impossible to list all infectious agents on these web pages, we list those that are most commonly found.
1. Interscience
2. pnas.org
3. scribd.com
4. NIPA