HOST- MICROBES INTERACTION

Epidemiology (epi= upon + demos= people + logy= study)

Epidemiology is the science that deals with the occurrence, distribution, and control of
disease with in a populations and any individual.
Host
It is living organism in which parasite grows and derives nutrients from its.
Saprophytes,
The microorganism which grow on dead or decaying matter are know as saprophyte.
Parasite
They are living agent which live at the cost of host.
Obligatory parasiteThese are microorganism which only live as parasite and can not live outside the body of
host.
e.g Viruses
CommensalWhen parasite benefits from host while the host is neither benefited nor harmed the
parasite is referred as commensal.
Pathogen Pathogen are the microorganism that is capable of producing disease in host.
ReservoirA host which harbours a parasite and acts as a source of infection is called as reservoir.
DiseaseDisease is a disturbance in the state of health where in the body cannot perform its
normal function.
InflammationA tissue reaction resulting from an irritation by the foreign material and causing a
migration of leucocyte and increase in the flow of blood to the area producing swelling,
reddening pain and tenderness.
Symptom - subjective evidence of damage to the host (headache, anorexia)
Sign - objective evidence of damage to the host (fever, rash, vomiting)
Infectious disease - one in which detrimental changes in health of the host occur as a result of
damage caused by a parasite.
Virulence - a measure of pathogenicity, which is the ability to cause disease.
Virulent - microorganisms that readily cause disease (only small numbers of the microorganism
are required to initiate and sustain infection).

Avirulent - microorganisms that do not cause disease.

Attenuated - microorganisms with reduced ability to cause disease.
Organism- are of two types
Resident microflorathey are always present on or in the human body.
Transient microfloraThese are the microorganism that inhibit the body.

Disease

Health

Increase

Increase

Parasite Virulence___________________________________Host Resistance

Decrease
Health

Decrease
Disease

INFECTION
Definition:
It is the successful invasion of the tissue by organism, characterized by their
multiplication in the body of the host to produce disease.
OR
The lodgment and multiplication of a parasite in or on the tissue of host produce
infection
TYPES OF INFECTION
1.

Primary infection: This is a fresh infection, primarily caused by a microorganism.

2.

Secondary infection:

When a second infection is superimposed on a primary

infection it is called secondary infection.

3.

Reinfection: Subsequent infection by same microorganism in a host

is called

reinfection.
4.

Mixed infection: When more than one organism simultaneously infect a host it is
called as mixed infection.

5.

Focal infection: It is a infection at localized sited like appendix and tonsil.

6.

Cross infection : This mean a fresh infection in hospital other than for which the patient
is admitted for treatment.

7.

Exogenous infection: It is an infection caused by the entry of an organism from an

external source.

8.

Endogenous/Autogenous infection: It is caused by the entry of an organism existing

with in the host.

9.

Nosocomial infection: Cross infection occurring in the hospital are called nosocomial
infection.

10.

A typical infection: It is the infection in which the typical or characteristic clinical

symptom are not produced.

11.

Super infection: This is the colonization and invasion of a body surface by strain of
resistance organism after the resistance flora has been destroyed by an antibiotic.

12.

Iatrogenic infection: Refer to physician induced infection resulting form investigative.

13.

Inappearant infection: is one where clinical effect are not apparent.

14.

Latent infection: is one where the organism are present in the body in the latent
period.

What is infestation?
Infestation means the presence of the parasites on the surface of the body.
What do you mean by communicable diseases?
Diseases transmitted directly or indirectly from one person to another are called
communicable diseases.

CLASSIFICATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

- based on how diseases behave within a host and within a given population
1. COMMUNICABLE DISEASE
- spreads from one host to another, either directly or indirectly
eg. Chickenpox, measles, tuberculosis, etc.
2. NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES
- not spread from one host to another
- caused by microorganisms that normally inhabit the body and occasionally produce
disease, or by microorganisms that reside outside the body and produce disease only
when introduced into the body.
Examples: ruptured appendix

Some terms
Bacteriaemia:
A condition in which bacteria are present in the blood stream.
Septicaemia:
This is a condition in which organism actively multiply in the blood stream and
produce toxin and pus.
Toxaemia:
It is a condition in which toxin is present in the blood.

Depending upon the spread of infection.

Epidemic:
Epidemic is one that spread rapidly involving many people in an area at same time.
Similar condition in animal is known as epizootic.
Eg: Diarrhoea
Endemic:
Endemic diseases are those, which are constantly present in a particular area.
Eg: Typhoid
Pandemic:
A disease is pandemic when a large number of population is affected in many
countries of the world.
Eg : Swine flu
Sporadic:
A disease occur in few scattered cases is known as sporadic.
Eg: Polio

SOURCE OF INFECTION
There are various sources of infection in are..
Man
Animal
Insect
Soil
Water
Food
Milk
Air
Man: The commonest source of infection in man is man himself.
The Parasite may originate from a patient or carrier.
A carrier is a person who harbours the pathogenic microorganism with out
suffering from any ill effect from it.
1. Healthy carrier

: Is one who harbours pathogen but has never suffered from

the disease caused by the pathogens.

2. Convalescent carrier : is one who has recovered from the diseases and continues
to harbour the pathogen in his body.
3. Temporary carrier

: is one who carrier the pathogen in his body for a short

period.

4. Chromic carrier

: is one who carrier the pathogens in his body for a long

period.

5. Contact carrier

: is applied to person who acquire the pathogen from a

patient by simple contact( physical , STD)

 Animal:
Many pathogens are able to infect both animal and man.
Animal may therefore act as source as infection.
Infectious diseases transmitted from animal to man are called as Zoonosis.
E.g Rabies from dog, plague from rat, Anthrax from sheep.
Insects:
Blood sucking insect may transmit pathogen to man.
The disease so caused are called arthropod borne disease.
Mosquito cause malaria.
Soil:
Some Pathogen is able to survive in the soil for very long period.
e.g Spores of Tetanus bacilli may remain viable in soil for long period and served as a
source of infection
Water:
Water may act as the source of infection either due to contamination with pathogenic
microorganism.
Eg. Cholera by Vibrio cholerae
Hepatitis by Hepatis virus
Food:
Contaminated food may act as a source of infection.
Presence of pathogens in the food material due to contamination by
Faeces--------------Flies seating on ----------Food
Faeces--------------Finger(nail)-----------------Food
Bacillary dysentery by bacteria
Milk:
Contaminated milk may act as source of infection particularly raw milk
Contained many pathogenic microorganism like
e.g Salmonella typhi caused Typhoid
Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes T.B in man
Air:

Air also carries many disease producing microorganism and hence it also act as
main source of infection
e.g Swine flu, Pnemonia etc.

Progress of Disease
Disease is a dynamic series of event expressing the competition between the parasite
and host. Usually there is a recognizable pattern in the progress of the disease following
the entry of pathogen.
There are five steps are involved

Incubation period
Prodromal phase
Illness/acute/invasive phase
Decline phase
Convalescent phase

INCUBATION PERIOD
- the time interval between the initial infection and the first appearance of any signs or
symptoms
Incubation periods may be short 1-3 days (cholera), 2 weeks for (chicken pox), long 3 to
6 year for leprosy.
- depends on the specific microorganism, its virulence, the number of infecting microbes
and host factors

PRODROMAL PERIOD
- relatively short period that follows the incubation period
- marked by early, mild symptoms of disease, such as general headaches and malaise

PERIOD OF ILLNESS
- disease is most acute; person exhibits overt signs and symptoms of disease
- generally, the patients immune response and other defense mechanisms overcome
the pathogen
- when disease is not successfully overcome, patient dies during this period
- can serve as reservoir of disease and easily spread the disease to other people
PERIOD OF DECLINE
- signs and symptoms subside
- may take from less than 24 hours to several days,
secondary infections

the patient is vulnerable to

PERIOD OF CONVALESCENCE
- person regains strength and the body returns to its pre diseased state.
- recovery period

METHOD OF TRANSMISSION OF INFECTION

Diseases are transmitted from the source of infection to susceptible person by certain
routes.
CONTACT TRANSMISSION
VEHICLE TRANSMISSION
VECTOR TRANSMISSION
MAN

PATIENT

AIR BORNE
TRANSMISSION

MAN NORMAL
HUMAN

TRANSPLACENTAL
IATROGENIC
TRANSMISSION

CONTACT TRANSMISSION
A. Direct Contact:
the disease agent is transmitted directly from an infected
individual to susceptible host, during physical contact. The disease transmitted
through direct contact is sexually transmitted disease.
eg. Syphillis, Gonorrhoea i.e disease of urinogential tract.

B. indirect Contact: the disease agent may be carried by a third person or contaminated
objects. Term fomites is used for such objects. Fomites are inanimate object such as
clothing, pencils or toys, which may be contaminated by a pathogen from one person
and act as vehicle for its transmission to another.
e.g Pencil shared by school children may acts as fomites in transmission of diphtheria.

2. Vehicle Transmission:
Vehicle Transmission implies transmission of disease agent through the agency
of water, milk, food, serum, plasma or biological products. Out of these water is most
important vehicle of transmission in many areas of the world, because it is used daily by
everyone.

eg Cholera, typhoid, Disease of digestive tract.

TRANSMISSION OF DISEASE
Three Principal Routes:
1. Contact Transmission
a. Direct

b. Indirect

c. Droplet

2. Vehicle Transmission
a. Waterborne

b. Foodborne

c. Airborne

3. Vectors
a. Mechanical

I.

b. Biological

CONTACT TRANSMISSION

A. Direct contact transmission

- person-to-person transmission
- direct transmission of an agent by physical contact
susceptible host; no intermediate object is involved

between its source and a

- most common forms : touching, kissing, and sexual contact

B. Indirect Contact Transmission

- agent of disease is transmitted from its reservoir to a susceptible host by
means of a nonliving object (fomite)
C. Droplet Transmission
- microbes are spread in droplet nuclei (mucus droplets) that travel only short
distances
- discharged into the air by coughing, sneezing, laughing or talking and travel
less than 1 meter from the reservoir to the host

II.

VEHICLE TRANSMISSION

- transmission of disease agents by a medium, such as water, food, or air

A. WATERBORNE TRANSMISSION
- pathogens spread by water contaminated with untreated or poorly treated
sewage
- cholera, shigellosis, leptospirosis
B. Foodborne Transmission
- pathogens generally transmitted in foods that are incompletely cooked,
poorly refrigerated, or
prepared under unsanitary conditions
- food poisoning, salmonella infections, tapeworm infections
II.

VEHICLE TRANSMISSION

C. Airborne Transmission
- spread of agents of infection by droplet nuclei in
dust that travel more than 1 meter from the reservoir to the host.
- droplets are small enough to remain airborne for prolonged periods
III.

VECTORS

- arthropods, animals that carry pathogens from

one host to another
A. MECHANICAL TRANSMISSION
- passive transport of the pathogens on the insects
feet or other body parts
houseflies walking on feces, spread germs to humans
B. Biological Transmission
- active process; more complex
- arthropod bites an infected person or animal and ingests some of the infected
blood.
- pathogens then reproduce in the vector and transmit it to another host by
several means: bite, defecation, vomiting.

may refer to

You get tetanus from rusty nail

OCCURRENCE OF A DISEASE
Based on frequency:
1. SPORADIC DISEASE
- if a disease occurs only occasionally
2. ENDEMIC DISEASE
- a disease constantly present in a population
3. EPIDEMIC DISEASE
- if many people in a given area acquire a certain disease in a relatively
short period
4. PANDEMIC DISEASE

- epidemic spreads worldwide

Microbial Interactions with Humans

(Host-Parasite Relationships)
Principles of Infectious Disease
Definitions
Epidemiology
The branch of medicine that deals with the study of the causes, distribution, and control of
disease in populations.
Host - organism which provides nutrients, etc. to another organism.

Parasite - organism which lives at the expense of (and may even harm) its host; the
parasite is generally smaller than the host and is metabolically dependent upon it.

Disease - an upset in the homeostasis of the host, resulting in generation of observable

changes

symptom - subjective evidence of damage to the host (headache, anorexia)

sign - objective evidence of damage to the host (fever, rash, vomiting)

Infectious disease - one in which detrimental changes in health of the host occur as a
result of damage caused by a parasite

Pathogen - microorganism that is capable of causing disease

Virulence - a measure of pathogenicity, which is the ability to cause disease

o Virulent - microorganisms that readily cause disease (only small numbers of the
microorganism are required to initiate and sustain infection)
o

Opportunistic - microorganisms that may or may not cause disease generally

colonize, but do not infect, the host when usually found associated with a host,
called normal microbiota, can cause disease if they are inadvertently introduced
into a site where they do not usually reside, especially inside host tissues

Avirulent - microorganisms that do not cause disease

Attenuated - microorganisms with reduced ability to cause disease