Stages of Pathogenesis of Infections

Stages of Pathogenesis of Infections

Infectious diseases are complex. The outcome of infection depends on a variety of factors of the microbe and host as follows:

a)        The ability of the organism to break host barriers and to evade destruction by innate local and tissue host defenses.

b)       The ability of the organism to replicate, to spread, to estab-lish infection, and to cause disease.

c)        The ability of the organism to transmit to a new susceptible host.

d)       The innate and adaptive immunologic ability of the host to control and eliminate the invading microorganism.

The infection process involves the following stages: (a) trans-mission of infection, (b) entry of the organisms and evasion of the local defenses, (c) adherence to cell surfaces, (d) growth and multiplication of the bacteria at the site of adherence, (e) manifestations of disease, and ( f ) termination of disease.