Greetings to all users of the StemSocial community, I am very pleased to share content that serves to clarify some medical issues that are common, but I know well that the information you have about them is not always the most accurate. Today I will socialize a topic that is well known, because most people have suffered at some point in their lives from what is an infection.
The possibilities of expressing an infection are multiple, because it varies a lot depending on many factors that are dependent on the host (person who suffers it) and the causal agent (microorganism that causes it), these aspects I will explain later.
I think the first thing is to start by defining what an infection is:
"Infection is defined as the presence and multiplication of a microorganism in the host tissues; it represents the interaction of the pathogen (and its virulence factors) with the host." Source
It is here where this whole subject becomes very interesting, because we join two factors that interact in a kind of "cellular and molecular biological warfare" in which someone must be the winner, but where the results obtained from that warfare are the expressions of infectious disease.
In this first part of this series I want to explain the characteristics that are determinant in an infection and its expression as a disease, such as the characteristics and type of causal agent (virus, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc) and those of the host (human being).
Let's start by talking about the Host, i.e. us as human beings, and what are those characteristics that predispose us to infectious diseases:
- Age: this particularly has to do with the fact that when we are adults, over 20-30 years old, we have already been exposed to a lot of pathogenic microorganisms, which allows our body to have a great line of defense against those agents.
Likewise, when we are adults, most of us have our complete vaccination schedules, which has strengthened our bodies, very specifically the immune system, which is in charge of defending us.
This is the main reason why children and newborns are more susceptible to contracting diseases and complications, because their defense system is very weak.
Nutrition is important / Pixabay / Author: stevepb
- State of nutrition: this is when we talk about nourishment, which is not the same as "eating ". I know many people who think that because they eat a big plate of pasta with tomato sauce and are satisfied they are feeding themselves, and nothing could be further from the truth than that.
Nutrition consists of providing our organism with what it needs to maintain its correct molecular and functional structure. For example, consuming what is necessary in terms of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids(fats).
These macronutrients will be degraded in the digestive system to smaller molecules, to amino acids in the case of proteins, fatty acids in the case of lipids, and complex carbohydrates are converted into glucose or fatty acids surplus.
Above all, amino acids are of vital importance in the defense of our body by the immune system, since they are the ones that form the antibodies (important immunological tool in the fight against pathogenic microorganisms), without an adequate consumption of proteins, the body cannot produce the necessary defense systems, and we are more prone to get sick.
On the other hand, proteins are necessary to maintain the body's barriers, such as the skin, and prevent the agents that make us sick from passing through them.
These are necessary factors to consider when we refer to those that correspond to human beings as hosts of microorganisms that could potentially make us sick.
Conclusion
As we have seen, the characteristics of us human beings such as age and good nutrition are determinant in the protection against infectious diseases.
But it is not only the characteristics of human beings that allow or not an infectious disease to be expressed when they are colonized by bacteria, viruses or others, but there are particular aspects of the agents that give them a greater capacity for infestation, which I will develop in the second part, soon.
Bibliography consulted:
- Enfermedades infecciosas.
- Module 1. Introduction to Infection Prevention
and Control - What to know about infections
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