microorganisms in relation to human health: chapter 1

WHAT ARE MICRO-ORGANISMS?

%%Microorganisms are organisms of microscopic size, which may exist in their single-celled form or as a colony of cells%%

we have bacteria, fungi, protozoa (single-celled eukaryotes) and single-celled Algae. Little multicellular organisms like nematodes and flatworms.

• ==Viruses aren’t living organisms== → no independent reproduction, no metabolism. (They are studied in microbiology so we will also see the viral infection in one of the next chapters.)

-side note- A lot of them use warm-blooded animals like a human as habitat → symbiosis

• %%symbiosis%% %%= long-term biological interaction between two different organisms%%

• %%commensalism:%% %%only the micro-organism gets the advantage%%

  example: bacteria on our skin that doesn’t bother us. They find organic substances and can live at a constant temperature.

• %%mutualism:%% %%both the human and the microorganism get an advantage%%

  For example: intestinal bacteria take nutrients from our intestines and produce vitamin K for the human → essential for blood clotting

• %%parasitism:%% %%the micro-organism gets the advantage and the human gets the disadvantage%% example: a cold virus causes an inflammation of the nasal mucosa resulting in an overproduction of nasal mucus

TERMINOLOGY

• %%Contamination%% = when someone comes into contact with a pathogen, one speaks of contamination. A disease is called contagious if it can be transmitted by one microorganism to another carrier.
• %%Infection%% = if the microorganism begins to multiply and thereby damages the tissue, you speak of an infection. An infection can result in an inflammation, a reaction of the body
• %%Incubation period%% = the incubation period is the time between contamination and the first symptoms (noticeable signs of disease)
• %%Epidemic%% = if many people have an infectious disease at the same time, you speak of an epidemic. For some infectious diseases, there is a reporting obligation to prevent epidemics
• %%Pandemic%% = a worldwide epidemic
• It is a new disease within the population
• It infects people and causes serious complaints
• A simple spread of said disease