How the host can

infected ?

Infection
pathogenesis

Pathogen
microbials
HOST
 INFECTIOUS PROCESS
1. CONTAMINATION
2. INTERACTION
3. COLONIZATION
4. INVATION
5. INFECTION
6. TRANSMISSION
7. CARRIER
 1. CONTAMINATION

A condition of being exposed to harmful agents,

making an object potentially unsafe
Indigenous flora
Indigenous flora = normal flora =usual flora
Microorganisms that are commonly found on or in
body sites of healthy persons
Plays an important role in both health and disease
Resident microbial flora
Microorganisms that colonize an area of
the body for months or years

Transient flora
Microorganisms that are present at area of
the host body for temporarily
 True Pathogen
An organism that can cause infection in
individuals with normal host defences (healthy
immune-competent)
Ex : Microbacterium tuberculosa
 2. INTERACTION

process among host and infectious agents

acting on each other.
 Symbiosis mutualism
Symbiosis mutualism: a biological relationship
between two or more organisms where both get
benefit from one another
Ex : Probiotic bacteria
Commensalism
Commensalism : a relationship where the
organisms benefit, but there is no beneficial or
harmful effect to the host
Ex : Normal flora on human hand
Parasitism
Parasitism : a relationship where the microbe
get benefit from the host and causing harmful
effect to the host
Ex : Helicobacter pylori
 Opportunistic pathogen
An organism that can cause infection in individuals with
abnormal host defences . (their habitat is damage,
disturbed,immune system is weakened or compromised)
Commensals may be opportunistic pathogens.
 3. COLONIZATION
The presence of bacteria on a subject surface (like on
the skin, mouth, intestines or airway) without causing
disease in the person.
 4. INVASION
The process whereby bacteria, animal parasites, fungi, and
viruses enter host cells or tissues and spread in the body.

Entry into the Host

Must access and adhere to host tissues, penetrate or evade host defenses,
and damage tissue to cause disease.
Portals of Entry
The three main portals of entry are:
Mucous membranes
Skin
Parenteral
Mucus Membranes
A. Respiratory Tract
microbes inhaled into mouth or nose in droplets of
moisture or dust particles

Easiest and most frequently traveled portal of entry

 B. Gastrointestinal Tract
microbes gain entrance thru contaminated food & water
or fingers & hands

most microbes that enter the G.I. Tract are destroyed by

HCL & enzymes of stomach or bile & enzymes of small
intestine
 Skin
Unbroken skin is impenetrable by most microbes.

Some microbes gain access through hair follicles

and sweat glands.
Nectator americanus (hookworm) can bore through
intact skin.
Certain fungi (dermatophytes) grow on skin and
produce enzymes that break down keratin.
Parenteral Route
Microbes are deposited directly into the
tissues beneath the skin or mucous
membranes.
Examples: Injections, bites, cuts, wounds, surgery,
punctures, and splitting due to swelling or drying.

Preferred Portal of Entry

Many microbes have a preferred portal of entry which
is a prerequisite to cause disease.
Example: Streptococcus pneumoniae that are inhaled can
cause pneumonia; if swallowed generally dont cause
disease.
 5. INFECTION
Multiplication of pathogenic microorganisms in
a bodily part or tissue, which may produce
subsequent tissue injury and progress to overt
disease through a variety of cellular or toxic
mechanisms.
How do Bacterial Pathogens can
make infection?
 Phatogenicity and virulence
factor
Pathogenicity : the ability of a microbe to
produce disease in a susceptible individual

Virulence factor: the quantitative ability factor of

a microorganism to cause diseases
Ability to resist phagocytosis
Adhesion
Ability to survive intracellularly and proliferate
Ability to produce toxins and enzymes
 Ability to resist phagocytosis
Pathogens have surface factors that impede
phagocytosis
S.pneumoniae, N.meningitidis; many other bacteria
have polysaccharide capsules.
 Adhesion
Adhesion (Adherence, attachment): The process by
which bacteria stick to the surfaces of host cells.
Pili and Fimbriae help mediate adherence of the bacteria
to host cell surfaces
The interactions between bacteria and tissue cell surfaces
in the adhesion process are complex.
Ability to survive intracellularly and
Some bacteria (eg, M tuberculosis,Brucella, Legionella )
proliferate
could live and grow in the polymorphonuclear cells,
macrophages, or monocytes
They may be resistant to lysosomal enzymes and survive
within the phagolysosome.
 Ability to produce toxins and
Toxins produced by bacteria are generally classified
enzymes
into two groups: exotoxins and endotoxins
 Enzymes
Many species of bacteria produce enzymes that are not
intrinsically toxic but do play important roles in the infectious
process

Tissue-Degrading Enzymes
Many bacteria produce substances that are cytolysinsie, they dissolve
red blood cells (hemolysins) or kill tissue cells or leukocytes
(leukocidins).
 6. TRANSMISSION
Transmit Transmission :
a passage or transfer ( as of a disease) from
one individual to another
 Airborne transmission
Human to human, No Direct Contact

Aerosol, Dust particles

Droplet,

Airborne Diseases :
Tuberculosis, Influenza, swine flu
 Food and water transmission
Human to human, No Direct Contact

Pathogen causing Food and Water Borne Diseases :

E.coli, Vibrio cholera, Salmonella spp, Shigella spp
 Close Contact
Human to human, Direct Contact

Herpes simplex virus

Wart -Human papiloma
virus
Gonorrhoea
Syphilis

Kissing, Breast milk

 Blood transmission
Human to human, No Direct Contact

Blood Borne Diseases (ex : HIV, Hepatitis,

Syphilis)
Cut and Bite from Animal Source Directly
Non human to human

RABIES
 Animal Vector
Non human to human, Insects,
Arthropods

DHF,Malaria, Relapsing fever, Lyme disease

ZOONOSES
Via Animal Excreta

AVIAN FLU
 Soil Source
Non Human to human

Tetanus
 Water source
Non human to
human

Leptospirosis
 On an object/surface
Non human to
human

Transmission from medical

instruments
Multi Transmission
Auto Transmission
 7. CARRIERS
Some pathogenic microrganisms establish
themselves in a host without manifest symtoms
Ex : Salmonella typhi, Hepatitis B
SUMMARY

Pathogenesis is a multi-factorial process

which depends on the immune status of
the host, the nature of the species or
Strain (virulence factors) and the
number of organisms in the initial
exposure.