Know if I have Bacterial Disease and how to treat it
June 13, 2016
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Bacterial Disease
Bacterial diseases include any type of illness or disease caused by bacteria, a type of microbe. Microbes are tiny organisms that cannot be seen without a microscope and include viruses, fungi, and some parasites as well as bacteria. The vast majority of bacteria do not cause disease, and many bacteria are actually helpful and even necessary to good health. Millions of bacteria normally live on the skin and in the intestines and can also be found on the genitalia. Bacterial diseases result when the harmful bacteria get into an area of the body that is normally sterile, such as the bladder, or when they crowd out the helpful bacteria in places such as the intestines.
Harmful bacteria are called pathogenic and includeNeisseria meningitidis, which can cause meningitis,Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can causepneumonia, and Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause a variety of infections. Other common pathogenic bacteria include Helicobacter pylori, which can cause gastric ulcers, and Escherichia coli andSalmonella, which can both cause food poisoning.
Pathogenic bacteria can enter the body through a variety of means, including inhalation into the nose and lungs, ingestion in food or through sexual contact. Once bacteria enter the body, a healthy immune system will recognize the bacteria as foreign invaders and try to kill or stop the bacteria from reproducing. However, even in a healthy person with a healthy immune system, the body is not always able to stop the bacteria from multiplying and spreading. As the harmful bacteria reproduce, many emit toxins which damage the cells of the body, resulting in symptoms of a bacterial disease.
Symptoms
Symptoms of bacterial diseases vary depending on the type of bacterial infection and the area of the body that is infected. The symptoms of bacterial diseases can also resemble symptoms of other diseases, such as colitis, influenza and other viral infections. The classic symptom of a bacterial infection is fever, although not all people with a bacterial infection will have a fever. Symptoms may affect almost any area of the body or body system and include chills,headache, stiff neck, irritability, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, rash, abdominal pain, sore throat, ear pain, cough, weight loss, fatigue, body aches, lesions, bloody urine, abscesses, muscle spasms, chest pain and joint pain.
How can I know if I have Bacterial Disease?
Meningitis infection may show up in a person by a sudden onset of fever, headache, and stiff neck. It will often have other symptoms, such as
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Altered mental status