Microbes Can Cause Different Kinds of Infections

Some disease-causing microbes can make you very sick quickly and then not bother you again. Some can last for a long time and continue to damage tissues. Others can last forever, but you won’t feel sick anymore, or you will feel sick only once in a while. Most infections caused by microbes fall into three major groups:

1. Acute infections

2. Chronic infections

3. Latent infections

What are microbes?

Microbes are tiny organisms—too tiny to see without a microscope, yet they are abundant on Earth. They live everywhere—in air, soil, rock, and water. Some live happily in searing heat, while others thrive in freezing cold. Some microbes need oxygen to live, but others do not. These microscopic organisms are found in plants and animals as well as in the human body.

Some microbes cause disease in humans, plants, and animals. Others are essential for a healthy life, and we could not exist without them. Indeed, the relationship between microbes and humans is delicate and complex.

Most microbes belong to one of four major groups: bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protozoa. A common word for microbes that cause disease is "germs." Some people refer to disease-causing microbes as "bugs." "I've got the flu bug," for example, is a phrase you may hear during the wintertime to describe an influenza virus infection.

Since the 19th century, we have known microbes cause infectious diseases. Near the end of the 20th century, researchers began to learn that microbes also contribute to many chronic diseases and conditions. Mounting scientific evidence strongly links microbes to some forms of cancer, coronary artery disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and chronic lung diseases.

Antimicrobial Surfaces

Microorganisms are known to survive on inanimate ‘touch’ surfaces for extended periods of time. This can be especially troublesome in hospital environments where patients with immunodeficiencies are at enhanced risk for contracting nosocomial infections.

Touch surfaces commonly found in hospital rooms, such as bed rails, call buttons, touch plates, chairs, door handles, light switches, grab rails, intravenous poles, dispensers (alcohol gel, paper towel, soap), dressing trolleys, and counter and table tops are known to be contaminated with Staphylococcus, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), one of the most virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Objects in closest proximity to patients have the highest levels of staphylococcus, MRSA, and VRE. This is why touch surfaces in hospital rooms can serve as sources, or reservoirs, for the spread of bacteria from the hands of healthcare workers and visitors to patients.