Related topics: immune system
Pathogen
hideA 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.
News tagged with pathogens
Egg Processing Plant Carts Can Harbor Bacteria
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Plywood-shelved carts that are used to transport eggs into processing plants can harbor Enterobacteriaceae, according to a microbial survey conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) ...
Cholera bacteria show adaptability to changing environments
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bacterium behind cholera epidemics spends only a fraction of its life infecting humans. Most of the time, Vibrio cholerae lurks in estuaries and other semisalty aquatic habitats.
Computer model reveals where food pathogens grow
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An outbreak of food-related illness, such as E. coli-tainted spinach, often leaves food safety experts scratching their heads over the source of the contamination.
Biology of emergent Salmonella exposed
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Researchers have characterised a new multi drug resistant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that is causing life-threatening disease in Africa.
It takes two to infect: Structural biologists shed light on mechanism of invasion protein
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Bacteria are quite creative when infecting the human organism. They invade cells, migrate through the body, avoid an immune response and misuse processes of the host cell for their own purposes. To this end every bacterium ...
Knockouts in human cells point to pathogenic targets
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Whitehead researchers have developed a new approach for genetics in human cells and used this technique to identify specific genes and proteins required for pathogens.
Researchers find new piece of BSE puzzle
Nov 20, 2009 |
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A new treatment route for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) could be a step closer based on new results from scientists at the University of Leeds. The team has found ...
Antimicrobials: Silver (and copper) bullets to kill bacteria
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Dana Filoti of the University of New Hampshire will present thin films of silver and copper she has developed that can kill bacteria and may one day help to cut down on hospital infections. The antimicrobial properties of ...
Whooping cough immunity lasts longer than previously thought
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Immunity to whooping cough lasts at least 30 years on average, much longer than previously thought, according to a new study by researchers based at the University of Michigan and the University of New Mexico. Details are ...
Is short-term Celecoxib intervention a effective method for preventing gastric carcinogenesis?
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Helicobacter pylori has been accepted as an important pathogen inducing gastric cancer. A research group from Taiwan investigated optimal intervention point of Celecoxib, to inhibit H. pylori-associated gastric carcinogenesis ...
New insight in the fight against the Leishmania parasite
Oct 23, 2009 |
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Professor Albert Descoteaux's team at Centre INRS - Institut Armand-Frappier, Canada, has gained a better understanding of how the Leishmania donovani parasite manages to outsmart the human immune system and proliferate with i ...
Parasite growth hormone pushes human cells to liver cancer
Oct 09, 2009 |
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Scientists have found that the human liver fluke (Opisthorchis viverrini) contributes to the development of bile duct (liver) cancer by secreting granulin, a growth hormone that is known to cause uncontrolled growth of cel ...
Reservoir of deforming tropical disease sought
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Knowing what causes a disease may not make it easier to control and contain infection, but understanding how humans become infected and where the pathogens live may improve control. A National Science Foundation grant for ...
Peer pressure builds more latrines than financial assistance
Sep 30, 2009 |
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Government subsidies persuade some people to change habits, but social shame works even better, suggests a recent study of efforts to reduce elevated childhood death and disease rates blamed on the microbial pathogens that ...
Reclaimed Riddle
Sep 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It was the "yuck factor" of reclaimed water that got Karyna Rosario thinking. As communities increasingly turn to reclaimed water as a source for irrigation - and some communities consider ...
