Immunology

How the immune system learns from harmless particles

Our lungs are bombarded by all manner of different particles every single day. While some are perfectly safe for us, others—known as pathogens—have the potential to make us ill. The immune system trains its response whenever ...

Pathogenic bacteria

Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that cause infectious diseases. This article deals with human pathogenic bacteria.

Although the vast majority of bacteria are harmless or beneficial, quite a few bacteria are pathogenic. The most common bacterial disease is tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people a year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Pathogenic bacteria contribute to other globally important diseases, such as pneumonia, which can be caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus and Pseudomonas, and foodborne illnesses, which can be caused by bacteria such as Shigella, Campylobacter and Salmonella. Pathogenic bacteria also cause infections such as tetanus, typhoid fever, diphtheria, syphilis and leprosy.

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