The development of a variety of pathogenic bacteria and. Ways to fight harmful bacteria. Opportunistic microbes living on the skin

Bacteria are present everywhere: in water, soil, air and, of course, the human body. Without these creatures invisible to the naked eye, life simply would not exist. It's very simple: bacteria are constituent element the normal existence of all living things.

The presence of a number of bacteria in the human body is absolutely normal and natural.. What bacteria are pathogenic and what harm can they do to human health?

Types of pathogenic bacteria

Pathogenic bacteria are divided into two large groups:

• ordinary bacteria that are constantly in oral cavity, intestines, vagina, but due to an increase in numbers, they harm a person large quantity secretions as a result of vital activity;
• pathogenic bacteria, which in small quantities cause significant harm to human health.

The first group includes bacteria different types, which coexist peacefully in the human body, without showing themselves in any way and without causing harm. But when conditions change (decrease protective functions organism), environment becomes favorable, active reproduction and an increase in numbers begin, as a result of which the released waste products and poisons poison the human body. For example, all women are well-known vaginal thrush, which is caused by growing yeast bacteria of the genus Candida. With a weakened immune system, drinking a course of antibiotics, changing hormonal background, quietly sitting bacteria get out of control, resulting in unpleasant white discharge with a sharp sour smell.

There are also opportunistic pathogens that small quantities not capable of harming health. But under favorable conditions, against the background of a growing population, diseases arise. For example, ureoplasma is contained in each of us. But not everyone is faced with a dangerous disease ureoplamosis. Even after positive analysis this bacterium should be looked at by the number of the colony, and not by the presence in the body. If there is an increase in the number, then treatment should be prescribed.

The most dangerous bacteria

There are pathogenic bacteria for humans, with which it is necessary to wage a tough fight. It's about:

• about E. coli, which can cause not only food poisoning, diarrhea, vomiting, but also serious illness intestinal tract;
• about spirochetes, the entry into the body of which is fraught with the development of typhus and syphilis;
• about shegella, from which people fall ill with dysentery;
• about mycobacteria that cause many types of tuberculosis and leprosy;
• about mycoplasma and the pneumonia it causes;
• about bacilli, the result of the introduction of which will be tetanus and anthrax;
• about listeria and the development of listeriosis;
• about vibrios and the cholera and vibrosis they cause;
• about clostridia, which provoke the appearance of botulism;
• about pyogenic bacteria that cause sepsis and conjunctivitis;
• about cocci and their varieties (staphylococci, streptococci, meningococci, pneumococci);
• about salmonella, which are dangerous for the development of salmonellosis, paratyphoid fever, typhoid fever.

Naturally, this is not complete list pathogenic bacteria, since they are very numerous, but at the same time they tend to change, which significantly complicates the process of dealing with them.

Ways to fight harmful bacteria

Since ancient times, man has been trying to find control over harmful bacteria, but it is not always possible for him to take control of these insignificant living creatures. The main ways to combat pathogenic bacteria are:

• educate the public about diseases that can be caused by different kind bacteria (a biology course in schools, lectures, visual and educational methods in the form of posters, memos, warnings);
• the development of bacterial medicine, the identification of methods for the destruction of harmful protozoa, the development of vaccines, sera;
• development of pharmaceuticals;
• development of a conscious attitude to the problem bacterial infection(promptly contact medical institutions precautions and personal hygiene).

Medicine coped and took under strict control many harmful bacteria, such as smallpox, anthrax, plague, but today there is no 100% guarantee that these protozoa will not be able to mutate and appear in new forms.

Preventive measures

No matter how trite it sounds, but each person to some extent can take care of his own safety in terms of malicious protozoa. The importance of compliance with control measures (otherwise preventive) against pathogenic bacteria should not be underestimated. Everything is as simple as twice two, and how many problems are protected from:

• knowledge of hygiene rules and their observance;
• do not violate the vaccination schedule developed by WHO, give children from birth to adulthood, adults should not refuse vaccination against tetanus, as well as all sorts of exotic diseases that can be caught in hot countries;
• drink only from proven water sources;
• independently take care of the quality of water in the house (install filters, boiling, settling);
• observe regimes heat treatment meat, fish, you should not buy food in unverified places (spontaneous markets, a neighbor from the village brought eggs that can become a source of salmonella), be careful with canned food and with expiration dates of goods.

Top 5 Things Bacteria Don't Like

The most common, while enough effective methods the fight against pathogenic bacteria are considered:

• pasteurization;
• sterilization;
• cooling;
• direct sunlight;
• salty or acidic environments.

Let's not forget to add disinfection of the premises, Fresh air, personal hygiene, boiling. The main thing to remember is that a person cannot recover from pneumonia or tuberculosis on his own, but it is possible to take all possible measures so as not to get sick or let these uninvited guests into your body.

Rice. 12. In the photo, streptoderma in a child.

Rice. 13. In the photo erysipelas shins caused by streptococcus bacteria.

Rice. 14. In the photo panaritium.

Rice. 15. In the photo, a carbuncle of the skin of the back.

Staphylococci on the skin

Fungi of the genus Microsporum cause microsporia disease. The source of infection are cats with trichophytosis, less often the disease is transmitted from dogs. Mushrooms are very stable in the external environment. They live on skin scales and hair for up to 10 years. Children are more likely to get sick, as they are more likely to come into contact with sick homeless animals. In 90%, fungi infect vellus hair. Much less often, microsporum affects open areas of the skin.

Rice. 22. Photo of fungi of the genus Microsporum (Microsporum).

Rice. 23. In the photo, a fungus of the scalp (microsporia). On the scalp, the lesion is covered with asbestos scales and crusts.

The disease is highly contagious (contagious). The person himself and his things are the source of infection. With this form of trichophytosis, open areas of the body are also affected, but with protracted course the skin of the buttocks and knees may be affected.

Rice. 24. In the photo, a fungus of the scalp (trichophytosis).

Multicolored lichen is a fairly common disease. The disease is more common in young and middle-aged people. It is believed that the cause of the disease is a change chemical composition sweat at excessive sweating. Diseases of the stomach and intestines, endocrine system, neurovegetative pathology and immunodeficiency are the triggers for the development of pityriasis versicolor.

Mushrooms infect the skin of the body. Lesions are often noted on the skin of the chest and abdomen. Much less often affects the skin of the head, limbs and inguinal regions.

Rice. 25. In the photo skin back.

Rice. 26. In the photo malassezia fungi furfur (growth of colonies on a nutrient medium).

Rice. 27. In the photo seborrheic dermatitis. Damaged scalp.

Mushrooms Pityrosporum orbiculare (P. orbiculare) affect the skin of the trunk. Pathogens are concentrated in places largest concentration sebum, which is produced sebaceous glands. Sebum causative agents of seborrheic dermatitis use in the course of their life. Rapid growth fungi is provoked by neurogenic, hormonal and immune factors.

With candidiasis, changes appear, first of all, on the skin of large and small folds of the body. With the development of the disease, the lesions spread to the skin of the trunk.

Somewhat less often lesions are noted on the skin of the palms and soles. Mushrooms genus Candida affect the mucous membranes of the external and internal organs. Can cause systemic mycoses.

The disease often strikes infants. Patients at risk for candidiasis diabetes and severe somatic pathology.
The disease lasts for a long time. Often recurs.

Rice. 28. Photo of fungi of the genus Candida (Candida albicans). View through a microscope.

Rice. 29. Photo of fungi of the genus Candida (Candida albicans). Growth of colonies on a nutrient medium.

Rice. 30. In the photo, candidiasis of the skin of the folds of the chest.

Molds, non-dermatophytes more often cause fungal infections human
in tropical countries. They affect the nails and skin.

Rice. 31. The photo shows a colony of mold fungi.

bacteria in the intestines

The human body contains from 500 to 1000 different types of bacteria or trillions of these amazing residents, which is up to 4 kg of total weight. Up to 3 kilograms of microbial bodies is found only in the intestines. The rest of them are in urinary tract, on the skin and other cavities of the human body.

The human body is inhabited by both beneficial and harmful, pathogenic bacteria. The existing balance between the human body and bacteria has been polished for centuries. With a decrease in immunity, “bad” bacteria cause great harm to the human body. In some diseases, the process of replenishing the body with “good” bacteria is difficult.

Microbes fill the body of a newborn from the first minutes of his life and finally form the composition of the intestinal microflora by 10-13 years.

Up to 95% of the microbial population of the large intestine are bifidobacteria and bacteroids. Up to 5% are lactic acid bacilli, staphylococci, enterococci, fungi, etc. The composition of this group of bacteria is always constant and numerous. It performs the main functions. 1% are opportunistic bacteria (pathogenic bacteria). Bifidobacteria, Escherichia coli, acidophilus bacilli and enterococci inhibit the growth of opportunistic flora.

In diseases that reduce the body's immunity, intestinal diseases, long-term use antibacterial drugs and in the absence of lactose in the human body, when the sugar contained in milk is not digested and begins to ferment in the intestines, changing acid balance intestines, there is a microbial imbalance - dysbacteriosis (dysbiosis). , enterococci, clostridia, staphylococci, yeast-like fungi and proteus begin to multiply intensively. Among them, pathological forms begin to appear.

Dysbacteriosis is characterized by the death of "good" bacteria and increased growth pathogenic microorganisms and fungi. In the intestines, the processes of putrefaction and fermentation begin to prevail. This is manifested by diarrhea and bloating, pain, loss of appetite, and then weight, children begin to lag behind in development, anemia and hypovitaminosis develop.

Peculiarities . To pathogen caused the disease, he must possess virulence that is, the ability to overcome the body's resistance and exhibit toxic effects. The basis of the pathogenicity of most bacteria is their ability to form toxic substances - toxins. Bacteria with the very ability to secrete poisons include pathogens of tetanus, diphtheria, botulism, gangrene, plague, etc. Bacterial poisons are the strongest known chemical and biological poisons. An example is the poison botulinum, which is produced by bacteria from the genus Clostridium. This is the strongest poison known to date - 1 g is enough to poison 14 million people. Very often, the cause of botulism is mushrooms, meat, vegetables, canned at home. The accumulation of poison occurs during their long-term storage at a certain temperature regime without access to oxygen. But this poison and pathogens are rendered harmless by access to oxygen and boiling for 15 minutes, so freshly prepared foods cannot cause disease.

Transfer methods. There are the following ways of penetration of bacteria into the body: 1) contact-household way, when the disease is transmitted directly or through objects surrounding the patient; 2) airborne route, when pathogens are transmitted through droplets of saliva that enter the air when sneezing, coughing (for example, tuberculosis, whooping cough) 3) transmission through water (causative agents of cholera) 4) alimentary way - through infected food products(pathogens of dysentery are transmitted through unwashed vegetables) 5) transmission path - through the bites of blood-sucking arthropods - mosquitoes, ticks, fleas (lice carry the causative agent of typhus) 6) through the soil(e.g. tetanus). Pathogenic bacteria multiply very

fast. If in human body get one bacterial cell and find favorable conditions for separation, then after 12 hours there may be several billion such cells. Spores of pathogenic bacteria can tolerate adverse conditions very long time. For example, anthrax spores can retain their ability to infect in the soil for decades. Pathogenic bacteria, like other microorganisms, can live in an oxygen-free environment ( anaerobic bacteria) and in an environment containing oxygen (bacteria).

Diversity and distribution. In humans, bacteria cause diseases such as tetanus, typhoid fever, syphilis, cholera, food poisoning, leprosy, plague, tuberculosis, diphtheria, dysentery and others, in animals - anthrax, brucellosis, mastitis, salmonellosis and others. More than 300 species of bacteria are known that can cause such diseases in plants as black spot of tomatoes, soft rot of onions, browning of apricots and etc.

The presence of pathogenic bacteria in the air, water or soil depends on many factors (on the season, geographical area, nature of vegetation, dust pollution, etc.). More different bacteria enclosed spaces. Many types of bacteria are found in humans and animals on their integuments, in the digestive and respiratory systems. Especially a large number of Pathogenic microbes can be on the skin of a person if he does not follow the rules of hygiene. Among the pathogenic bacteria there are those that help a person in the fight against pests. So, some types of bacilli cause diseases in insect larvae. Since these bacteria are safe for vertebrates and humans, they are used to protect forests, orchards, vineyards, orchards from the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle, Siberian silkworm, cabbage butterfly, etc.

So the most common features pathogenic bacteria is the ability to form toxic substances, the use various ways penetration into the body, rapid reproduction, long-term transfer adverse conditions etc.

Bacteria are the oldest inhabitants of our planet. They managed to adapt to almost everything possible conditions life. Bacteria have existed on Earth for billions of years. They are widely distributed throughout the planet and are present in all its ecosystems. In the article we will address the question of what diseases cause pathogenic bacteria. The habitat of these organisms will also be considered by us.

evolution of bacteria

Their first representatives appeared more than 3.5 billion years ago. For almost a billion years, these organisms remained the only living creatures on Earth.

At first, bacteria had a primitive structure. Then it became more complicated, but even now these organisms are the most primitive unicellular. It is interesting that in our time, some bacteria have retained the features characteristic of their ancestors. This applies to organisms living in hot sulfur springs, as well as living at the bottom of reservoirs (in oxygen-free silts).

soil bacteria

Soil organisms are the most numerous group of bacteria. Their form is ideally adapted to the existence in the conditions that they prefer. In the course of evolution, it practically did not change. In shape, they can resemble a stick, a ball. They may also be curved. These organisms are mostly chemosynthetic. In other words, they receive energy as a result of special redox reactions that occur with the participation of carbon dioxide(carbon dioxide). As a result of this process, these organisms synthesize substances that other species use for life.

Types of bacteria in the soil

Fertile soil has a rich and varied bacterial composition. Among its inhabitants stand out:

• nitrogen-fixing organisms;
• pathogenic bacteria whose habitat is the soil;
• lactic acid bacteria, butyric acid bacteria);
• microorganisms that reduce heavy metals.

Among them, not all are dangerous to plants or animals. Many, on the contrary, are useful. They are playing important role in nature. However, pathogenic bacteria are also found in the soil. Their habitat contributes to the fact that it is plants that mainly suffer from them.

Prevention of the appearance of pathogenic bacteria in the soil

If you carefully handle the soil, periodically alternate the crops grown on it, it will cope with toxic substances on its own. For example, toxic substances always appear during decay and decay of roots, stems and leaves. However, on healthy soil, this process will proceed naturally; pathogenic plant bacteria will not multiply in it. The problem appears if the amount of plant mass that requires processing increases sharply. Therefore, it is necessary to cut off excess branches, uproot trees, remove and cut shrubs, remove all chips, roots and twigs from the site.

Fight against pathogenic soil bacteria

If you find that only one type of plant is sick all the time on your site, you do not need to spray the affected leaves and stems from year to year. The fact is that the harmful source lives in the soil. Therefore, seeds should be protected from infection. Then the plants that emerge from them will be healthy.

Potassium permanganate diluted in water is the most a simple means fight bacteria. It should be diluted in water at the rate of 1 g per 100 ml of water. Next, soak the seeds in it for half an hour, then rinse them thoroughly with water. Another remedy is to dissolve in a liter of water 1 gram of potassium permanganate crystals and " blue stone" (blue vitriol) and add 0.2 g of boric acid.

Pathogenic bacteria in the human body

The most common habitat for them is the saliva of a sick person, as well as dishes and other items used by the patient. They can also enter the body through stagnant indoor air. Pathogenic bacteria are found in water, food and almost all surfaces. They are especially favorable unsanitary conditions. It is also possible to get infected from sick animals, since some types of these bacteria, which are dangerous for them, can also harm us.

And plants, as we have said, can infect pathogenic bacteria. Their habitat includes, in particular, the fruits of plants. Visually, the fetus affected by them can be easily identified. Therefore, one should be attentive to vegetables and fruits used for food, especially wild ones. After all, pathogenic bacteria are organisms that cause dangerous diseases. Compliance with personal hygiene, as well as airing the premises, is the best prevention.

coli

Pathogenic bacteria whose habitat is the human body are numerous. Take, for example, E. coli. It is a symbiont bacterium, the source nutrients for which the body of warm-blooded animals serves. Mainly coli has a rod shape. It lives mainly in the lower part of the intestinal cavity. However, E. coli can also be found in foods, in water. In addition, it is able to survive for some time in the environment.

There are many varieties (strains) of this type of bacteria. Most of them are harmless. These organisms are present in normal intestinal flora both animals and humans. A temperature of 37 ° C is optimal for them.

One version says that E. coli enters the human body within 40 hours after its birth, and lives in it throughout a person's life. The source of its entry into the body can be breast milk or people in contact with the child. According to another version, this bacterium inhabits the body even in the mother's womb.

E. coli is harmless in its usual habitat conditions. However, it can become pathogenic if it ends up in other parts of our body. In addition, its disease-causing strains can penetrate from the outside. As a result, a person has various gastrointestinal infections.

streptococci

Staphylococci

From birth, a person begins contact with an infection caused by staphylococcus aureus. The body develops a strong immunity to it throughout life. Under the influence of a number of factors, these bacteria turn into pathogens. They affect the skin, and there are barley, pyoderma, abscesses, boils and carbuncles. The spread of infection leads to folliculitis, cellulitis, soft tissue phlegmon, abscesses, mastitis and hydradenitis.

Staphylococcus enters the body through the bloodstream. It causes diseases of the heart (endocarditis and pericarditis), bones (osteomyelitis), joints (bacterial arthritis), urinary system, brain, lower and upper respiratory tract. Almost all human tissues and organs can affect staph infection. There are more than a hundred types of diseases that it causes. Enterotoxins of staphylococci, getting into gastrointestinal tract with food, lead to food poisoning(toxic infections).

Children under one year of age, as well as immunocompromised adults, are the most prone to infection. The manifestations of lesions vary. They depend on the place of introduction of staphylococcus into the body, on the degree of its aggressiveness, as well as on the state of the patient's immunity.

tuberculosis bacillus

A person who becomes infected with a tubercle bacillus becomes ill with tuberculosis. At the same time, small tubercles appear in the bones, kidneys, lungs, as well as some other organs, which eventually disintegrate. tuberculosis is very dangerous disease, which sometimes takes years to fight.

plague wand

Plague wands are also bacteria, disease-causing. Infection with them leads to the appearance of an even more severe and one of the most transient diseases - the plague. Sometimes from the first signs of infection to lethal outcome only a few hours pass. In ancient times, devastating epidemics of this disease were a terrible disaster. There were cases when entire villages and even cities died out from them.

Other habitats for pathogenic bacteria

Bacteria can choose for life not only those places that were discussed above. Some of them exist in conditions that seem unsuitable for life. These are hot springs and polar ice, and and strong pressure. The fight against pathogenic bacteria is relevant everywhere. After all, there is no place on Earth where they could not be found.

So, we talked about which bacteria are pathogenic and where they live. Of course, this article describes only their main representatives. The types of pathogenic bacteria, as you know, are numerous, so acquaintance with them can last a very long time.