Topic Objectives

1. Integrate the nature of infection process and its disease

prevention.

2. Trace the chain of infection.

3. Discuss the movement of microbes into a new host

4. Identify the different vaccines to eliminate and treat infectious

disease in the body

Unit III. Understanding Infection and Host
Resistance
Unit III. Understanding Infection and Host
Resistance
 The First Link: The Pathogen or the Causative Agent

In ecology, organisms are described based on their mechanism

of obtaining energy.

Facultative refers to the ability of an organism to live or survive

with the presence or absence of oxygen.

They can survive in the external environment as well as inside the

host like parasites.
There is only one type of facultative organism:
 The facultative anaerobes
- an organism that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if
oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation
if oxygen is absent.

Fermentation - the chemical breakdown of a substance

by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving
effervescence and the giving off of heat.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

- a molecule that carries energy within cells

- the main energy currency of the cell

- an end product of the processes of photophosphorylation

(adding a phosphate group to a molecule using energy from light),
cellular respiration, and fermentation
Obligate organisms - bacteria, fungi,
algae and endoparasites that can be
identified in nature.
Most algae are obligate aerobes.
Obligate bacteria (Obligate Aerobes and
Obligate Anaerobes)
Obligate bacteria can be categorized into
two groups based on the type of cellular
respiration they use to obtain energy.
 Two types of obligate organisms

1. Obligate aerobes
 organisms that require a sufficient amount of oxygen for the growth and
multiplication
 can survive in the external environment
2. Obligate anaerobes
 live only in the absence of oxygen
 do not possess the defenses that make aerobic life possible and therefore
cannot survive in air.
 During growth and metabolism, oxygen reduction products are generated
within microorganisms and secreted into the surrounding medium.
Four Phases of Growth Progression of Microorganisms
1. Lag phase

* Little or no cell division occurs, population size does

not increase

* May last from one hour to several days

* Still adjusting to the environment

2. Log phase

* Cells begin to divide and generation time reaches a constant

minimum

* Period of most rapid growth

* Number of cells produced is more than the number of cells dying

* Cells are at the highest metabolic activity

* Cells are most susceptible to antibiotics.

3. Stationary phase

* Population size begins to stabilize

* Number of cells produced is equal to the number of cells dying

* Overall cell number does not increase

* Cell division begins to slow down.

3. Stationary phase

* Population size begins to stabilize

* Number of cells produced is equal to the number of cells dying

* Overall cell number does not increase

* Cell division begins to slow down.

4. Death phase

* Population size begins to decrease.

* Number of cells dying is more than the number of cells

produced

* Cells lose their ability to divide.

 Gram Staining
• Crystal violet is used to differentiate between Gram
Positive and Gram Negative bacteria.

• Gram's iodine, an agent that fixes the crystal violet to the bacterial cell
wall.
• The alcohol decolorizes the sample if it is Gram negative, removing
the crystal violet. However, if the alcohol remains on the sample for
too long, it may also decolorize Gram positive cells.

• Carbolfuchsin is used as the primary stain dye to detect acid-

fast bacteria because it is more soluble in the cell wall lipids than in
the acid alcohol.
Main Benefit of a Gram Stain
 it helps the doctor learn if the patient have a
bacterial infection

 it determines what type of bacteria are

causing the disease.

 It helps the doctor determine an effective

treatment plan.
 Main Benefit of a Gram Stain
 it helps the doctor learn if the patient have a
bacteral infection
 it determines what type of bacteria are
causing the disease.
 It helps the doctor determine an effective
treatment plan.
Gram Positive Gram Negative

Gram positive bacteria have cell walls Gram negative bacteria have cell walls
composed mostly of a substance unique with only a thin layer of peptidoglycan and
to bacteria known as peptidoglycan, or an outer membrane with
murein. a lipopolysaccharide component.
Antibiotics cannot kill
viruses because
bacteria
and viruses have
different mechanisms
and machinery to
survive and replicate.
 Properties of Viruses

• Nucleic acid
-contains 3 - 400 genes (Deoxyribonucleic Acid
(DNA) - unique feature

The function is to deliver its DNA or RNA into the

host cell so that the genome can be transcribed or
translated by the host cell.
 Properties of Viruses

Functions of Nucleic Acids

 Responsible for the synthesis of protein in our body

 RNA is a vital component of protein synthesis.
 Loss of DNA content is linked to many diseases.
 DNA is an essential component required for transferring
genes from parents to offspring.
 All the information of a cell is stored in DNA.
Properties of Viruses
 Viruses
Are microscopic particles or organisms that gets
inside the human cell and destroys it.

Meaning viruses hijack host cells and inject their

own genetic material.
 • Capsid - The capsid accounts for most of
the virion mass.
 the complete, infective form of a virus outside a host
cell, with a core of RNA or DNA and a capsid.
• it protects the nucleic acid from digestion
by enzymes.

• contains special sites on its surface that

allow the virion to attach to a host cell

• provides proteins that enable the virion to

penetrate the host cell membrane and, in
some cases, to inject the infectious nucleic
 Envelope

- an amorphous structure composed of

lipid, protein and carbohydrate which lies
outside of the capsid.

Functions of Envelope

 Protects the RNA or DNA molecules

 Evades recognition by the immune system

 Facilitates virus entry.

Spikes - are proteins that allow these viruses
to penetrate host cells and cause infection.

The antibiotic has no “target” to attack in

a virus. However, antiviral medications
and vaccines are specific for viruses.
The antibacterial
kills the
organisms and
has vaccines
specific for such
bacteria.
 Properties of Bacteria

* Lack of membrane-bound organelles

The lack of membrane-bound organelles like mitochondria

in bacteria impacts transcription (bind and copy) host
cells.

Other microbes has membrane-bound organelles,

protecting the rest of the cells from their harmful effects.
 Properties of Bacteria

* Bacteria are unicellular . . . small

 Easier to adapt to changes in the environment (hot and

cold) because they are unicellular thus small.
 Cannot grow very large

 Reproduce quickly because they are simple organisms.

 Do not live long like the multicellular organisms because

there is only one cell to complete all life functions
 Fungi: Yeasts and Molds

A fungus is a eukaryote (membrane-bound organisms) that

digests food externally and absorbs nutrients directly
through its cell walls.
 Characteristics of Fungi
* Fungi are eukaryotic (with membrane-bound
microbes), non-vascular, non-motile and
heterotrophic organisms.
Nonvasular organisms

Fungi are not true plants, but they are often studied in tandem
with plants.

They enable nutrient cycling by breaking down decaying matter.

They include organisms ranging from molds to mushrooms to

yeasts.
 Characteristics of Fungi

Fungi are non-motile (they don't move)

They are heterotrophs (they get food and energy from other
organisms

They are saprophytes, feeding on dead or decaying material

Each group of fungi has a unique set of spores.

Asexual reproduction is more common than sexual.

 Characteristics of Fungi

Asexual reproduction

Type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of

gametes or change in the number of chromosomes.

The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from

either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the full set
of genes of their single parent.
 * Fungi are unicellular or filamentous.
Specialized hyphae or filaments allow vegetative a
non-sexual reproduction with spores or conidia.
 • Fungi lack chlorophyll and hence cannot
perform photosynthesis

In 1960s, fungi were considered plants but, unlike plants, fungi do not
contain the green pigment chlorophyll and therefore are incapable of
photosynthesis.

That is, they cannot generate their own food.

Photosynthesis. The process by which green plants and some other

organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods.

Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll

and generates oxygen as a byproduct.
 Fungi are usually classified in four divisions:

Chytridiomycota (chytrids), a primitive fungi

Fungi are usually classified in four divisions:

Zygomycota (bread molds)

 Fungi are usually classified in four divisions:

Ascomycota (yeasts and sac fungi)

Fungi are usually classified in four divisions:

Basidiomycota (club fungi)

Superficial fungal infections are not
dangerous but systemic or internal infections
are sometimes deadly.
 Parasites

• Parasites include various

protozoa and worms which may
infect humans causing parasitic
diseases.
• Many parasites do not cause
diseases but it can affect
practically all living beings.
• Affects or can migrate to other
parts of the body like the brain
and sense organs
 Protozoa “one-cell organism”

Are organisms, like bacteria, but they are bigger than

bacteria and contain a nucleus and other cell structures,
making them more like plant and animal cells. Protozoa love
moisture.

They live in a wide variety of moist habitats including fresh

water, marine environments and the soil.
Protozoa “one-cell organism”

Amoebiasis is a parasitic
disease caused
caused by infection with
Entamoeba histolytica or
another amoeba
 Protozoa “one-cell organism”

Malaria is
caused by
single-celled
protozoan
parasites of the
genus
Plasmodium.
The second Link: Reservoir
The third Link: Portal of exit
The third Link: Portal of exit
The fourth Link: Routes of transmission
Occupational
Safety and Health
Administration

Center for Disease

Control
The fifth Link: Portal of Entry
The sixth Link: The Susceptible Host
I N S E R T E X T R A T E X T H E R E J A N U A R Y X , 2 0 2 X
I N S E R T E X T R A T E X T H E R E J A N U A R Y X , 2 0 2 X
 Vaccines

Immunization – a process by which a person becomes

protected against a disease through vaccination.
Vaccination - the act of introducing a vaccine into the body
to produce immunity to a specific disease.
The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) was
established in 1974 through a World Health Assembly
resolution that is to build on the success of the global
smallpox eradication and ensure that all children in all
countries benefited from the life-saving vaccines.
 2. Objectives of EPI: To reduce the incidence of
immunizable diseases among children below
five years of age.

Eradication of
poliomyelitis

OPV with 3 doses

with an interval of
4 weeks
Routine Polio Vaccination for Infants and
Children
 CDC recommends that children in the United States
receive inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)

 to protect against polio, or poliomyelitis

 IPV is given by injection in the leg or arm, depending

the person’s age

 It may be given at the same time as other vaccines.

 Some “combination” vaccines (several different
vaccines in the same shot) contain IPV:
Pentacel (DTaP-IPV/Hib)

Pediarix (DTaP-IPV-HepB)

Kinrix (DTaP-IPV)

 Children getting these vaccines may get one more

(fifth) dose of IPV.
 It is safe for children to get a fifth dose of polio
vaccine.
Children get four doses of IPV, with one dose
at each of these ages:

 2 months

 4 months

 6 through 18 months

 4 through 6 years
 Elimination of
Measles

Given on the 9th

month of the child

Reduce Hepatitis B
under 5
Given immediately after
birth six weeks after OPV 1
& OPV 2 or 8 week after
OPV 2 & OPV 3
 Elimination of diphtheria, pertussis and neonatal
tetanus: Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus Vaccine
(DPT vaccine)

Given on the 6th

month of the child in
three doses with 4
weeks interval.
Elimination of diphtheria, pertussis and neonatal
tetanus: Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus Vaccine
(DPT vaccine)
Given on the 6th month of the
child in three doses with 4
weeks interval.
 Prevention of Tuberculosis: Bacillus Calmette
Guerin (BCG).

Given immediately
after birth

Eradication of COVID - 19
The vaccine has only been tested in children
above 16 years of age. Therefore, at this
time, WHO does not recommend vaccination
of children below 16 years of age, even if
they belong to a high-risk group.
•A1: Frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and
public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing
aides, janitors, barangay health workers, etc.
•A2: Senior citizens aged 60 years old and above
•A3: Persons with comorbidities not otherwise included in the preceding
categories
•A4: Frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel and
those in working sectors identified by the IATF as essential during ECQ
•A5: Indigent populations not otherwise included in the preceding categories

•B1: Teachers, social workers

•B2: Other government workers
•B3: Other essential workers
•B4: Socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior
citizens and indigent people
•B5: Overseas Filipino Workers
•B6: Other remaining workforce

•C: Rest of the Filipino population not otherwise included in the above groups
 Prevention of pneumonia
The DOH provides pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV),
particularly PCV13 and is given to the public for free.

Younger than 2 years old: four shots (at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months,
and then a booster between 12 and 15 months)

65 years old or older: two shots, which will last the person the rest of
your life.

Prevention of chickenpox
The first dose should be given between 12-15 months of age and the
second dose should be given between 4-6 years of age.

All adults who have never had chickenpox or received the vaccination
should be vaccinated. Two doses of the vaccine should be given at least
four weeks apart.
All for Listening 