The Pathogenesis of the Disease, Essay Example

You are working in a hospital and there is a discussion on what is an infection and how is it different from disease. How would you explain the difference between them in the process explain what is meant by virulence, pathogenesis, primary infective agent and the difference between entry, colonization and invasion.

Infections occur when viruses, bacteria, or other pathogenic organisms enter a host organism. While infections can cause some diseases, diseases are not only caused by infections; disease describes a broad range of ailments that can be caused by factors including infection, physical trauma, and more. Virulence describes the degree of pathogenicity of an infection, which describes the ability of infectious organisms or particles to cause disease. The primary infective agent is what causes disease symptoms. The entry of a primary infective agent describes the entering of the organism into the body, while colonization and invasion describes the growth and spread of the organism.

You are working in a hospital and a patient was brought in with purple rash covering their body. You need to explain to the others that this patient has a Neisseria meningitidis blood poisoning.

Explain the pathogenesis of the disease and what is the virulence factor?

Neisseria meningitidis has an airborne transmission that occurs when an affected individual sneezes. There are several virulence factors. One is that the bacteria is contained within a polysaccharide capsule that prevents phagocytosis via the host’s immune system. In addition, it has fimbriae that help the bacteria attach to the epithelial cells of the nasopharynx, where it colonizes. Its pili are used to infect the cell through associated surface proteins Opa and OpC. Last, this bacteria produces IgA protease, which allows the bacteria to evade attack by the humoral immune system.

How does the bacterium defend its self against the immune system?

The bacteria is able to evade the immune system by being coated with a polysaccharide capsule that helps avoid being phagocytosed by macrophages or targeted by other immune cells. In addition, the bacteria secretes IgA protease that cleaves IgA antibodies that would target this bacteria for destruction.

How such a disease is to be treated and why the use of this treatment method.

Antibiotic treatment is necessary to slow the growth and spread of this bacteria. Penicillin is the recommended drug, and damages and penetrates the cell wall of the bacteria. Once this wall is penetrated, the immune system is able to bypass the bacteria’s immune defenses and the IgA antibodies will be able to target it for destruction and ingestion by macrophages.

Explain how the immune system resolves this disease.

Once antibiotic treatment has begun, IgA antibodies attach themselves to the antigen on the bacteria cell. This recruits macrophages, which are targeted towards the bacteria to digest it and break up the cell. Once this occurs, additional antibodies are produces with different antigen presentation so that the body will be better prepared to attack the remaining bacteria in the body.

What are the types of toxins bacteria produces? Give examples stating their effect. Explain how viruses cause disease and what are mycotoxins and Endotoxin like mycotoxins.

Bacteria produces a broad range of toxins. Broadly, they are classified as endotoxins and exotoxins. Exotoxins are generally secreted from the cell, while endotoxins remain a component of the bacteria. There are many different types of toxins that fall into these categories. However, a majority of these toxins are used to disable the host’s immune system to ensure greater reproductive success. These toxins impact various aspects of the immune system depending upon their specific identity. Some of these toxins target the ability of the immune system to utilize antibodies to target bacteria for destruction, while others interfere with the ability for immune cells like macrophages to enact the actual destruction. Viruses cause disease by infecting the body and taking over the host cell’s reproductive machinery. By doing so, viruses will multiply and then go on to contaminate neighboring cells. This causes disease because the host’s immune system must target its own cells for destruction because the viral DNA cannot easily be targeted. Mycotoxins are typically produced by molds and causes immunological sensitization of a body to an antigen in addition to immune-mediated damage to the body. Endotoxin-like Mycotoxins block protein synthesis that prevent antibodies from being formed.