MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY 2500

LECTURE 1
Objectives:
 To understand how the immune system destroys bacteria and viruses that invade your body
 To understand vaccines

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017
Why do we have an immune system?
 To protect us from pathogens
o These are microorganisms that have the potential to cause some sort of infectious disease
o Pathogens can be categorized into bacteria, virus, parasite, and fungi
 Immune system has to be constantly ready to decide if something is a threat
 There can be external threats or internal threats:
o External threat can be an allergy
o Internal threat:
 Once a cell’s lifespan has met, a cell will die by apoptosis
 Cancer is an internal threat because cancer cells avoid apoptosis (immune system
has to be able to recognize this)
 Autoimmune diseases (your own immune system is attacking your own tissues
and organs)
 Type 1 diabetes
 Microorganisms have the advantage of reproducing and evolving extremely quickly
o Viruses evolve and mutate
 Your immune system must identify this as a pathogen
 Your immune system can either destroy the pathogen and you will get very sick
 Infectious diseases remain the leading cause of deaths worldwide
o Major increase in life expectancy from early 1900s is mainly due to control of infectious
diseases
How can you stop a pathogen?
 Taking medication (antibiotics)
 Better sanitation
o In Canada, we have potable water so that we don’t get diseases from drinking the water
 Vaccination

 Infectious diseases are called transmissible diseases

o Infectious agents require reservoir
 Humans, water, insects are all reservoirs
 Malaria is caused by parasitic protozoa that gets transmitted through a mosquito
o There is a portal of exit, and a mode of transmission that allows it to be carried to a portal
of entry
o The host then becomes susceptible
 This chain can be broken by eliminating the reservoir
o Control vectors/animal reservoirs
o Water treatment/purification (waterborne disease)
 o Sewage disposal (enteric pathogens)
o Food: proper cooking/storage, pasteurization, preservatives
o Disinfectants
o Antibiotics
 Chain also be broken by stopping transmission
o Using filter mask
o Washing our hands

 Some people are naturally susceptible

o Children up to the age of 1 have a week immune system, so they are susceptible to
illnesses
o Some people undergo chemotherapy so they are naturally susceptible
o People that undergo injuries and lose a lot of blood are also susceptible
 Herd immunity:
o Your immune system kills pathogen quickly so you do not pass it on
o Resistance to the spread of a contagious disease that occurs if many people within the
population are immune to the disease
Epidemiology of Infectious Disease^
 Endemic: refers to the expected (baseline) level of an infectious disease that is continuously
present in a population within a geographic area
 Epidemic: refers to an increase, often sudden, in the number of new cases of a disease above what
is normally expected in that population in that geographic area
o Outbreak is an epidemic but on a smaller scale
 Pandemic: an epidemic that has spread to different regions (within a country, or to different
countries, or different continents)
How does the immune system protect us against pathogens?
1. Recognize pathogen
2. Quickly eliminate pathogen from your body
Main immune components are:
Cells
 Some tissue cells
 White blood cells, called leukocytes
  Phagocytes and lymphocytes

Proteins
 are secreted by cells
 Cytokines
 Acute phase proteins
 Antibodies
Blood cells are derived from a hematopoietic stem cell located in bone marrow^*
 This stem cell, which is multipotent, can become
o red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets
 2 developmental pathways for white blood cells:
o a myeloid progenitor cell (phagocytes) or
o a lymphoid progenitor cell (lymphocytes)
 when you become an elderly person, they are not producing enough phagocytes and lymphocytes
to effectively destroy pathogens which is why the elderly are susceptible
Blood Fractionation
 Plasma contains proteins (55%) and blood cells (45%)
 Plasma replaces proteins (albumin, clotting factors)
 Plasma is given to somebody who needs replacement of their proteins (usually someone who
needs clotting factors)
o they will pool plasma bags from over 1000 donors
 extract antibodies (gamma globulin) and use as treatment for people who are
immuno-suppressed
2 parts of immune system
 innate and adaptive immunity
 Adaptive immunity
o B cells and T cells
o When you get vaccinated, you prime your antibodies and T cells
 Essentially you are priming your adaptive immunity
Passive Immunity
 Immunity that is acquired from another individual via the transfer of antibodies
o Not your own, but it is given to you by someone else
o 2 different ways: natural (maternal antibodies) and artificial (antibodies from other
sources)
 Artificial can allow treatment of:
o Immunodeficiencies
o Influenza pandemics
o Anti-rabies virus Abs
o Anti-rubella virus Abs
o Anti-venom Abs
 Natural:
o Maternal antibodies are transferred via:
 placenta to fetus (in utero) wanes in about 10 months
 breast milk to newborn
o a newborn has passive immunity and innate immunity, but adaptive immunity is not fully
developed until about 1 year old
 The antibodies will catalyze and will be degraded
o Provides immediate, short-term immunity (months)
 The person is getting immediate immunity
o Attacking pathogen immediately