joeschmittMicrobes are everywhere: in the air, in water, and in the arctic ice, on our skin, and even inside our bodies. Most are harmless, many are helpful, but some can make you seriously ill. In this episode, we explore four main ways microbes cause disease, and what that means for you.
Some bacteria make powerful poisons called toxins that interfere directly with how your cells work. In tetanus, the bacterium produces a toxin that affects the nervous system and can lead to severe muscle spasms and seizures. In diphtheria, the toxin can damage the heart and kidneys, leading to life-threatening complications if it is not treated in time. In both cases, it is not the bacteria themselves doing most of the damage, but the toxins they release.
Other microbes make you sick by invading and destroying your cells as they multiply. The tick-borne encephalitis virus, or TBEV, virus is a good example. It enters brain cells, uses them as factories to make millions of new virus particles, and when these new viruses burst out, the infected cells are destroyed. Once enough brain cells are damaged, this can cause inflammation of the brain and serious brain damage.
Sometimes the problem is not just the microbe, but how your body reacts to it. Certain bacteria, like meningococci, can trigger a massive activation of the clotting system in your blood. Tiny clots form in your blood vessels, which paradoxically leads to bleeding, multi-organ failure, and shock. This is why meningococcal disease can become life-threatening within hours and needs immediate medical care.
Whenever an invader enters the body, the innate immune system reacts with inflammation. You feel this as fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and headache – the typical “I’m sick” feeling. In most infections, this response helps you get better, but in some cases, the immune reaction itself becomes the main problem. In severe tuberculosis of the brain, or in some cases of COVID-19, doctors sometimes need to dampen this overreaction to limit damage.
Very rarely, an infection confuses the immune system so much that it starts attacking the body’s own tissues – a process called autoimmunity. This can contribute to diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Guillain–Barré syndrome.
If infections smolder for years, chronic inflammation can even pave the way for cancer. Persistent infection with human papillomavirus can lead to cervical cancer, hepatitis B or C can cause liver cancer, and Helicobacter pylori in the stomach can contribute to stomach cancer. Altogether, infections are thought to play a role in roughly 15 percent of cancers worldwide.
Here is my conclusion:
The reality is that it is impossible to avoid all infections. The smart goal is not to live in fear, but to prevent those infections that pose the greatest risk for severe illness, disability, or death at your age and under your life circumstances. Vaccination, good hygiene, and early medical care when you are seriously unwell are powerful tools to keep harmful microbes in check while you continue to live a normal, connected life.
By Chief Editor Joe Schmitt
Health Literacy Asia
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