Pathogens Essay

Pathogens are everywhere. They are in people, animals, and the environment. Pathogens come in a wide variety. The types are fungal, bacterial, viral, and other parasites. All pathogens can be dangerous, but two of them are more dangerous. These two types that more dangerous are fungal and bacterial. While both fungal and bacterial pathogens cause illness, they differ in the way they are transmitted, the way they are treated, and the diseases they cause. First, the way fungal and bacterial pathogens are transmitted is different.

Most fungal pathogens are not transmitted person to person but instead by inhaling fungal spores. On the other hand bacterial pathogens are transmitted in many ways like through touch and air. Bacterial pathogens are also transmitted by bodily fluids. The most common infection that is transmitted by airborne pathogens is Tuberculosis. Some of the Bacterial diseases that are transmitted Group A Streptococcus, Invasive Group B Streptococcal, Haemophilus influenza. Some bacterial diseases transmitted by bodily fluids are Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and Chancroid.

Second, they are different in the way they are treated. Bacterial infections are usually treated with antibiotics pills. Penicillin was discovered in the 1920s by a British scientist named Alexander Fleming. Fleming almost accidently discovered the natural growing substance. He named it Penicillin after the Penicillium mold that made it. The first antibiotic discovered that could attack certain bacteria was Penicillin. In 1940 two scientists, Howard Florey and Ernest Chain, were researching projects in bacteriology looking for ways to enhance or continue with chemistry.

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Using chemistry they created a brown powder that kept its power for more than a few days. After experimenting they found it to be safe. It was needed right away on the front lines of World War II so mass production started right away. Penicillin saved many lives that would have been lost due to bacterial infection even in minor wounds (Rosenberg, n. d. ). On the other hand fungal infections are usually treated using antifungal creams or injections. Antifungal creams are used to treat things like athlete’s foot, ringworm of the groin and body, skin infection because of Candida yeast.

A serious systemic infections like crypotococcal meningitis. Antifungal injections are used to treat infections like Candidiasis, Coccidiomycosis, and Crypotococcal Meningitis. Antifungals work by exploiting differences in mammalian and fungal cells to kill the fungal organisms with no dangerous effects on the host. Fungal and human cells are alike at the molecular level. Antifungal drugs can cause side effects; some could be fatal if the drug is not used properly (Antifungal medication, n. d. ). Finally, the diseases that fungal and bacterial pathogens cause are completely different.

Fungal diseases are rarer and more likely to be fatal. One of the most fatal fungal pathogens is Candida. Candidiasis infections have many types the most common non-fatal type is oral also known as thrush. Invasive Candidiasis infections occur if Candida yeast gets in your bloodstream and you have a weakened immune system and a yeast infection goes untreated. Candidiasis infections have a forty to fifty percent mortality rate for systemic infections (Hidalgo, 1994-2013). Bacterial diseases are more common and there are so many different types.

Some bacterial infections are Botulism, Lyme disease, and gonorrhea. Botulism is a disease that causes neuroparalysis because of a neurotoxin produced by Clostridium Botulinum. The three types of botulism are infant botulism, foodborne botulism, and wound botulism. Infant botulism is caused by ingested C Botulinum spores that germinate in the intestine and produce toxin. Infant botulism has less than a one percent mortality rate. Foodborne botulism is most commonly caused by improperly canned or home-prepared foods. Foodborne Botulism carries a mortality rate of five to ten percent.

Wound botulism is caused by contamination of a wound with toxin producing Botulinum. Wound botulism has a mortality rate of fifteen to seventeen percent (Chan-Tack, 1994 – 2013). Lyme disease is caused by bacteria called borrelia burgdorferi. It is carried by black legged ticks that have bitten mice or deer infected with Lyme disease. Stage one of Lyme disease is when the bacteria has entered the body but has spread throughout the body. Stage two is when the disease has spread through the body some. Stage is a widespread infection.

Each stage of Lyme disease also has different symptoms. Stage one symptoms are like the flu. The symptoms include fever, body-wide itches, and muscle pain. Stage two symptoms are paralysis or weakness of face muscles, pain or swelling the knees or other large joints, muscle pain, and heart problems. Stage three symptoms are muscle weakness, numbness and tingling, abnormal muscle movement, and speech problems. Stage three of Lyme disease can cause long term joint inflammation, heart rhythm problems, and brain and nervous system problems.

These problems include concentration problems, memory problems, nerve damage, sleep disorders, and vision problems. (Lyme Disease, 2013). Gonorrhea is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The bacteria grow in warm, moist areas of the body, like the tube that carries urine out of the body. In women the bacteria can be found in the reproductive tract. Symptoms normally appear in two to five days after infection. Sometimes symptoms take up to a month to appear and some people never have any symptoms. Some symptoms are burning and pain while urinating, sore throat, and discharge from the penis or vagina.

Complications like joint infections, heart valve infection, or meningitis may occur in both men and women. Scarring or narrowing of the urethra or pus around the urethra may occur may occur in men. Pelvic inflammatory disease, scarring of the fallopian tubes, infertility may also occur in women (Gonorrhea, 2013). In Short, while fungal and bacterial pathogens are different in the way they are transmitted, the diseases they cause, and the way they are treated. They are dangerous to us because the hold a form we can’t see without a microscope.

They cause diseases like Candidiasis and Botulism. The infections are treated with pills, creams, and injections. These pathogens are most commonly transmitted by touch, inhalation, bodily fluids, and air. They can’t be avoided all of the time. We will never see them coming but, we can increase our knowledge about them. Increasing our knowledge will decrease our chances or getting them by knowing what causes them we can avoid them better. References: Rosenberg, J. (n. d. ). Alexander Fleming Discovers Penicillin. Retrieved from http://history1900s. about. om/od/medicaladvancesissues/a/penicillin. htm Antifungal medication. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Antifungal_medication Hidalgo, J. A. (1994-2013). Candidiasis. Retrieved from http://emedicine. medscape. com/article/213853-overview#showall Chan-Tack, K. M. (1994-2013). Botulism. Retrieved from http://emedicine. medscape. com/article/213311-overview#show Lyme Disease. (2013). Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/ Gonorrhea. (2013). Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004526/

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