News tagged with pathogens
Stem-cell-based strategy boosts immune system in mice
Raising hopes for cell-based therapies, UC San Francisco researchers have created the first functioning human thymus tissue from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory. The researchers showed that, in mice, ...
Immunology
May 16, 2013 |
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Finding a new way to manage infections
(Medical Xpress)—Waging an immunological war against a pathogen is not the body's only way to survive an infection. Sometimes tolerance, or learning to live with an invader, can be just as important. In tolerance the body ...
Immunology
Apr 29, 2013 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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New discovery in fight against deadly meningococcal disease
Professor Michael Jennings, Deputy Director of the Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University, was part of an international team that discovered the previously unknown pathway of how the bacterium colonizes people.
Medical research
May 23, 2013 |
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Tactics of new Middle East virus suggest treating by altering lung cells' response to infection
A new virus that causes severe breathing distress and kidney failure elicits a distinctive airway cell response to allow it to multiply. Scientists studying the Human Coronavirus-Erasmus Medical Center, which ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Apr 30, 2013 |
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Why climate change is causing upset stomachs in Europe
Much has been said about the effect of climate change, but little is known about its impact of water-related health issues. Scientists are now suggesting that greater quantities of rainfall and bigger storms ...
Health
Apr 30, 2013 |
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Tick-borne Lone Star virus identified through new super-fast gene sequencing
The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
May 02, 2013 |
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Pathogen
A pathogen (from Greek πάθος path "suffering, passion", and γἰγνομαι (γεν-) gignomai (gen-) "I give birth to"), infectious agent, or (more commonly) germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen.
The body contains many natural defenses against some of the common pathogens (such as Pneumocystis) in the form of the human immune system and by some "helpful" bacteria present in the human body's normal flora. However, if the immune system or "good" bacteria is damaged in any way (such as by chemotherapy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or antibiotics being taken to kill other pathogens), pathogenic bacteria that were being held at bay can proliferate and cause harm to the host. Such cases are called opportunistic infection.
Some pathogens (such as the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which may have caused the Black Plague, the Variola virus, and the Maleria protozoa) have been responsible for massive numbers of casualties and have had numerous effects on afflicted groups. Of particular note in modern times is HIV, which is known to have infected several million humans globally, along with the Influenza virus. Today, while many medical advances have been made to safeguard against infection by pathogens, through the use of vaccination, antibiotics, and fungicide, pathogens continue to threaten human life. Social advances such as food safety, hygiene, and water treatment have reduced the threat from some pathogens.
Not all pathogens are negative. In entomology, pathogens are one of the "Three P's" (predators, pathogens, and parasitoids) that serve as natural or introduced biological controls to suppress arthropod pest populations.
For more information about Pathogen, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
