BIOL1007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, One Health, Robert Hooke
Document Summary
It was a new method to identify bacteria which caused: tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax. Discovery helped the allies to win wwii: discovery of many other antibiotics soon followed. It is estimated that penicillin saved 100,000 lives in wwii, and has saved 200 million lives since then. Discuss difference between normal flora and pathogens: normal flora, your body has approximately 30 trillion human cells but 40 trillion microbial cells, normal flora is found at specific sites and they are specialised for that site. They are mostly bacteria and acquired at birth, from diet and from the environment: concept of normal flora is flexible. Virulence factors e. g. gain antibiotic resistance: when pathogens find opportunities, they can turn from a normal pathogen to a super. Describe one major problematic infectious disease: example of a major pathogen is mycobacterium tuberculosis, tuberculosis is an old disease with new problems, caused by bacterium: mycobacterium tuberculosis, spread person-to-person by airborne droplets (coughing)
