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Microbes & Infections
Microbes Cause Different Kinds of
Infections
Some disease-causing microbes can
make you very sick very 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 any
more, or you will only feel sick
once in a while. Most infections
caused by microbes fall into three
major groups:
Acute infections
Chronic infections
Latent infections
ACUTE INFECTIONS
Acute infections usually last a
short time, but they can make you
feel very uncomfortable, with signs
and symptoms such as tiredness,
achiness, coughing, and sneezing.
The common cold is such an
infection. The signs and symptoms of
a cold can last for 2 to 24 days
(but usually a week), though it may
seem like a lot longer. Once your
body's immune system has
successfully fought off one of the
many different types of rhinoviruses
that caused your cold, the cold
doesn't come back. If you get
another cold, it's probably because
you have been infected with someone
else's rhinoviruses.
CHRONIC INFECTIONS
Chronic infections usually develop
from acute infections and can last
for days to months to a lifetime.
Sometimes, people are totally
unaware they are infected but still
may be able to transmit the germ to
others. For example, hepatitis C,
which affects the liver, is a
chronic viral infection. In fact,
most people who have been infected
with the hepatitis C virus don't
know it until they have a blood test
that shows antibodies to the virus.
Recovery from this infection is rare
- about 85 percent of infected
persons become chronic carriers of
the virus. In addition, serious
signs of liver damage, like
cirrhosis or cancer, may not appear
until as long as 20 years after the
infection began.
LATENT INFECTIONS
Latent infections are "hidden" or
"silent" and may or may not cause
symptoms again after the initial
acute episode. Some infectious
microbes, usually viruses, can "wake
up" and become active again,
sometimes off and on for months or
years, and cause symptoms. When
active, these microbes can be
transmitted to other people. Herpes
simplex viruses, which cause genital
herpes and common cold sores, can
remain latent in nerve cells for
short or long periods of time, or
forever.
Chickenpox is another example of a
latent infection. Before the
chickenpox vaccine became available
in the 1990s, most children in the
United States got chickenpox. After
the first acute episode, usually
when children are very young, the
Varicella zoster virus goes into
hiding in the body. In many people,
it emerges many years later when
they are older adults and causes a
painful disease of the nerves called
herpes zoster, or shingles.
Researchers are studying what turns
these microbial antics off and on
and are looking for ways to finally
stop the process.
Content Courtesy : www.niaid.nih.gov
Note : Information herein is
provided for informational purposes
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