How the Body Works How Bacteria Cause Disease
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Bacteria usually gain entrance to the body
either by inhalation, by ingestion,
or through a break in the skin.
Once they have entered a tissue,
the bacteria may produce a substance
known as the spreading factor.
The spreading factor digests connective tissue barriers in the tissues,
thus allowing further spread of the bacteria or their toxins.
Failure to overcome these invasive agents
can lead to severe tissue damage.
Large numbers of bacteria may compete
with the healthy cells for nutrients and oxygen.
Toxins, on the other hand, disrupt normal cell metabolism
by interfering with chemical reactions.
When a tissue becomes infected by bacteria,
white blood cells migrate to the site of infection
and begin to ingest the bacteria.
The bacteria, however, may survive and multiply
within the white cells, which then burst,
releasing the bacteria into the tissue once again,
causing severe inflammation.
More white cells then enter the area
to try to combat the infection.
White blood cells are attracted to an infected site
where bacteria are multiplying and causing inflammation.
Some bacteria have thick capsules around them
which prevents them from being engulfed
consequently, the bacteria increase.
The body then manufactures antibodies
which attach themselves to the bacteria,
making them vulnerable to ingestion by the white cells.
In this illustration
ithe infected site s supplied with white blood cells.
The bacteria have gained entry
by a small cut in the skin
and are beginning to multiply and grow rapidly,
secreting toxins which can act locally
or can enter the general circulation to be widely dispersed,
causing the death or malfunction of the body cells.
If the white cells fail to combat the bacteria in the initial stages,
then tissue damage may occur
If they initially fail to destroy the bacteria,
then the bacteria increase in number and finally begin to break up
releasing toxic chemicals, called endotoxins,
which are contained with their walls
The released endotoxins may cause local tissue damage.