Bacteria, why do they make me sick?/Treatment, prevention and personal hygiene
CHAPTER 3
TREATMENT,
PREVENCTION
AND
PERSONAL
HYGIENE
Do diseases caused by
bacteria have a cure?
There are different drugs to treat diseases. To treat bacterial diseases, antibiotics are used, such as amoxicillin. To treat diseases caused by viruses, antivirals are used, such as acyclovir.
The term, “antibiotic” is used to name a molecule that is able to eliminate bacteria. This molecule is produced naturally by fungi or bacteria.
The substances able to eliminate fungi, parasites or viruses are called antifungal, antiparasitic and antiviral respectively.
WHAT IS ACETAMINOPHEN USED FOR?
Over-the-counter painkillers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, moderate the symptoms caused by bacterial diseases, but they do not cure the disease. Therefore it is important a timely medical diagnosis and the appropriate treatment for the specific bacterium causing the infection.
BACTERIAL RESISTANCE
The sale of prescription antibiotics and their consumption must be supervised by the healthcare provider who prescribed it. This is because the overuse of this medication may lead to bacteria to get used to antibiotics or resistance. This means bacteria develop mechanisms that enable them to survive in the presence of antibiotics.
What consequences do you think the bacterial resistance may have?
After a bacterium has become resistant, what do you think is the way to treat a disease?
Discuss with others!
And vaccines…
how are they related to this?
Vaccines are a biological preparation whose goal is to produce immunity against disease by stimulating the production of antibodies.
They can be, for example, a suspension of dead or attenuated microorganisms; products or subunits of microorganisms and even DNA. In general, as the response to vaccines is to generate antibodies, they usually stimulate the AIS.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
In history, there were several events that preceded the beginning of the era of vaccination. First, there were procedures where scabs caused by smallpox were inoculated in healthy individuals. Even though this procedure was performed from time immemorial, it was only in 1786 when the English physician and scientist, Edward Jenner, carried out the first medical experiment related to vaccination.
Jenner’s experiment
Dr. Edward Jenner was a scientist, physician in the countryside and a poet. He observed that milkmaids that were in constant contact with cows and that occasionally got infected by a disease called vaccinia (kind of bovine smallpox), did not get smallpox that affects humans.
With this idea in mind, Jenner took secretion samples of the blisters from a milkmaid who has caught vaccinia (smallpox that affects bovines) and he inoculated the wound of a child with it. After six weeks, he inoculated the same child with pus from a person sick with smallpox and the child showed no sign of infection.
Later, it has been discovered that this cowpox is a milder variant of deadly smallpox that affects humans.
As a result of this, the term vaccination appeared.
Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, and bacteriologist. He is considered the father of modern microbiology because of his countless contributions in this field. Pasteur created two vaccines for diseases caused by bacteria: the vaccine for chicken cholera in 1880 and the vaccine for anthrax in 1881. Later, in 1885, Pasteur creates the vaccine for rabies, also known as the rabies vaccine.
In this way, the experiments made by Jenner and Pasteur enabled the introduction of active vaccines. These vaccines were first developed with an attenuated vaccine method (known as first-generation vaccines); then, with the development of inactive microorganism vaccines; to continue with the polysaccharide vaccines and the genetic recombination mechanisms.
Types of vaccines
In the early development of vaccines, there were some predominated mechanisms of production. The technological advance has enabled the introduction of much more innovative and safer techniques.
ACELLULAR
A combination of purified subcellular components of the pathogen. They usually have proteins and it may have toxoids.
RECOMBINANT ANTIGEN
Using genetic engineering technology (recombinant DNA), a gene that encodes an antigen is inserted (a protein of a pathogenic microorganism) in a bacteria or yeast. The goal is to produce large amounts of the antigen protein for its subsequent purification and use.
CONJUGATE
In this type of vaccines, cell wall polysaccharides or pathogenic bacteria capsule are combined with proteins of the same pathogen. In this way, the vaccine develops an immune response against several antigens of the bacteria.
INACTIVE
Pathogenic microorganisms are treated with chemical products or heat. This type of vaccines activates the immune system, but it is not able to reproduce in the host. In this way, the immunity is milder and shorter, that is why more doses are needed. In fact, because of the milder immune response of these vaccines, substances called adjuvants are used to increase the immune response of the organism.
POLYSACCHARIDES
External wall lipopolysaccharides or pathogen bacteria capsules are used to generate an immune response or recognition of the external part of the microorganism.
TOXOIDS
They are inactivated toxic components of pathogenic microorganisms.
DNA VACCINE
This type of vaccine contains the DNA of a pathogen that encodes antigenic proteins. One advantage of DNA vaccines is that they can be easily produced and stored, while the main problem is that it is not possible to know for certain if this DNA can integrate into a chromosome in the cells or cause mutations in the genome of the patient that receives the vaccine.
RECOMBINANT VECTOR
In this type of vaccines, it is administered an attenuated or nonpathogenic microorganism carrying DNA that encodes an antigen of the pathogenic microorganism. The most often microorganisms used in this type of vaccines are vaccinia virus, some nonpathogenic lactic acid bacteria and attenuated variants of M. tuberculosis and Salmonella Typhi. The main problem with this type of vaccines is the insufficient immune response.
LIVE ATTENUATED
These vaccines contain microorganisms cultivated under controlled conditions where they lost or attenuated their pathogenic properties. They develop longer immune response and are commonly used in adults.
| Year | Name | Type of vaccine |
| 1895 | Rabies vaccine | Live attenuated |
| 1896 | Cholera vaccine (Vibrio cholerae) | Inactive by heat |
| 1896 | Salmonella enterica Typhi and S. enterica Paratyphi | Live attenuated |
| 1911 | Rabies vaccine | Inactive |
| 1926 | Pertussis vaccine | Inactive with whole cells |
| 1937 | Yellow fever vaccine | Live attenuated |
| 1937 | Salk Anti-flu | Inactive |
| 1950 | Sabin Polio vaccine | Attenuated |
| 1954 | Salk Polio vaccine | Inactive |
| 1960 | Measles vaccine | Attenuated |
| 1968 y 1972 | Meningococcal A and C vaccine | Polysaccharides |
| 1972 | Haemophilus influenzae Type B (Hib) vaccine | Polysaccharides |
| 1975 | Typhoid fever vaccine | Polysaccharides |
| 1978 | Pneumococcal vaccine | Polysaccharides |
| 1984 | Chicken pox vaccine | Attenuated |
| 1989 | Haemophilus influenzae Type B (Hib) vaccine | Conjugate |
| 1999 | Meningococcal vaccine | Conjugate |
| 2000 | Heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine | Recombinant antigen |
| Age | Vaccine | Protects against |
| New born | BCG | M. tuberculosis Invasive disease |
| 2 months | Pentavalent | Hepatitis B (virus) Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis H. influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease |
| Pneumococcal conjugate | S. pneumoniae invasive disease | |
| 4 months | Pentavalent | Hepatitis B (virus) Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis H. influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease |
| Pneumococcal conjugate | S. pneumoniae invasive disease | |
| 6 months | Pentavalent | Hepatitis B (virus) Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis H. influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease |
| Pneumococcal conjugate (only for preterms) | S. pneumoniae invasive disease | |
| 12 months | Meningococcal conjugate | N. meningitidis invasive disease |
| Pneumococcal conjugate | S. pneumoniae invasive disease | |
| 18 months | Pentavalent | Hepatitis B (virus) Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis H. influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease |
| Meningococcal A and C | Polysaccharide | |
| First grade | dTp (acellular) | Difteria, Tétanos, Tos convulsiva |
| 8th grade | dTp (acellular) | Difteria, Tétanos, Tos convulsiva |
| Adults aged 65 years old and older | Pneumococcal | Enfermedades invasoras por S. pneumoniae |
What is the importance
of vaccines?
A region or country performs a massive vaccination campaign in order to protect people against infectious diseases. In fact, the World Health Organization (W. H. O.) estimated that vaccines prevent two to three million of deaths every year, by providing protection against diseases such as diphtheria, measles, pneumonia, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus and polio. However, for some years now, people have started forgetting these benefits.
Vaccines prevent two to three million of deaths every year.
against diseases such as diphtheria, measles, pneumonia, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus and polio
The anti-vaccination groups or movement are present in developed and developing countries and have similar arguments. They oppose vaccines arguing that they may cause side effects, disorders such as autism or ischemic strokes with time.
The problem is that their arguments are based on wrong scientific sources. The one that has caused major impacts is a study published in The Lancet, in 1998. This study suggested a connection between the development of autism and the triple vaccine (measles, rubella, and mumps). The journal retracted the paper when it was proved that the author had falsified the results. Even though infectious diseases are uncommon in some countries (mainly developed countries), the microorganisms that cause these diseases continue to spread. And in a globalized world, they can cross geographical boundaries and infect any unprotected person, so the anti-vaccination option, it doesn’t only affect the person who decides, but also affects his entire community.
What if I don’t A person who doesn’t get vaccinated becomes a reservoir for the pathogenic microorganism and thereby helps spread it. |
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In 2013, in Wales (United Kingdom) there was a measles epidemic with more than a thousand children, between 10 and 15 years old, infected. This happened because part of the population decided to not get their children vaccinated. |
Remember! The real or false information goes viral as fast as a microscopic infection, so get vaccinated against it and do some research to know the truthfulness of the sources. Assess information to know if it is true, check the references and don’t be fooled by the sensationalism of magazines, blogs, opinion columns or socials networks that don’t include the references of scientifically proven studies. Be careful with fake news.
Prevention is the best way to avoid catching bacterial infectious diseases.
Some measures are:
Vaccination
The first step is to get vaccinated. The Chilean Health Department Vaccination Schedule is designed to prevent infection due to bacterial (such as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) and viral (such as hepatitis) diseases. Having your vaccination record up to date allows preventing infection and the spread of these diseases.
Hygiene
Washing hands is an effective method to prevent different diseases. That is why, it is recommended to do it regularly and properly, which means; first wet your hands; then lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap; and finally scrub your hands for at least 30 seconds.
You need to wash your hands several times a day. For example:
• every time you go to the bathroom
• after sneezing or blowing your nose
• after playing or being with animals
• before every meal
The oral cavity may also be a place where pathogenic bacteria proliferate, like those causing cavities. For this reason, brushing and flossing your teeth is essential to maintain a good oral health
Washing fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables, especially those that we eat raw, we must properly soak, wash and rinse to eliminate dirt, insects and bacteria residues. When they are not properly clean, you may get a gastrointestinal disease.
Cross-contamination
In the kitchen, raw food must be separate from cooked food, and you must use different utensils to cook each type of food. In this way, we prevent “cross-contamination”. In addition, it is essential to properly wash the kitchen utensils, especially those used to handle raw meat. Bacteria present in the meat die when the meat is cooked, but if raw vegetables are prepared with the same unwashed utensils, it is possible those bacteria cause an infection or food poisoning.