How do you get sick?
Several different steps need to occur for you to become sick. Once you understand those, you are better able to prevent illness.
In this short lesson, you will learn what the sources of infection are, how these pathogens enter your body and the steps that lead to disease. Finally, you will learn how the actions you take during the various steps can influence the chance of getting sick.
FAQ's
Any time you feel bad (ill) you might consider yourself sick. Something is just not right with your body and you know it. However, not all illnesses are caused by microbial pathogens (germs). Some illness is caused by parts of your body not functioning correctly (e.g. muscle cramps) or cells in your body that have gone crazy (e.g. cancer).
First you need to be exposed to an disease causing agent (virus, bacteria, protozoa, fungi and others). Next that pathogen has to enter your body through some portal of entry (eyes, nose, mouth, skin breaks and others). Finally, if the pathogenic agents grows enough inside your body, you begin to feel sick.
First, be aware to where the thing (disease causing agent) is living (usually another person, but also soil, water or the air) and stay away. If you can’t stay away, try to block the exposure to the pathogen by covering those portals of entry. Stay healthy so that if the pathogen enters your body, you are in better condition to fight it off.
Hi there, Dr. Robert Heckert, your biosafety advisor. Today, we’re going to learn, how we become sick. Knowing this, allows us to take the appropriate precautions, to prevent potential illness.
So here’s the key information:
You become sick from a pathogen through a three step process.
– first exposure, second infection, and third disease.
Once exposed there are four main routes a pathogen can enter your body. Eyes-nose-mouth, respiratory, ingestion, and skin openings. Sexual transmission is also a route, but we won’t cover that here. So, by minimizing your exposure and blocking these routes of pathogen entry, you can reduce or even stop the chance of becoming sick.
Ok, let’s break down the steps that lead to disease.
The first step is exposure. Exposure is getting a pathogen on or in your body. For example, touching surfaces, speaking to someone, shaking hands, pet contact, and many more.
The second step is infection. This is when that exposure leads to the pathogen growing on or in your body. At this step you can be spreading the pathogen to others, but yet not showing any symptoms.
The third step is disease. Which is when that infection causes symptoms of illness. Such as coughing, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and others. Symptoms of illness vary greatly depending on:
what kind of pathogen you have been infected with,
which body system is being attacked, and
how your body responds to it.
It’s important to understand that not all exposures lead to infections, and not all infections lead to disease. In fact, you’re exposed to pathogens every day but don’t realize it. That’s because most exposures don’t progress to infection or disease and therefore, we don’t experience any symptoms of illness. Without experiencing any symptoms you wouldn’t realize you were exposed or infected.
There are many factors that result in us becoming sick, but basically it’s a balance of three things:
how much of the pathogen you’re exposed to,
how infectious the pathogen is, and
how effective your body is at fighting it off.
So, how do pathogens enter our body?
There are four main routes of entry:
respiratory,
ingestion,
skin openings, and
the wet areas of the eyes-nose-mouth.
Sexual transmission is also possible but we won’t cover that here. The rOute the pathogen enters the body is determined by the type of pathogen —- and how you interact with it.
One route of entry is respiratory, which is when the air you breathe in contains the pathogen. For example, when you’re within speaking distance of someone who is exhaling lots of pathogens in their breath, you could inhale that contaminated air.
COVID, for example, can be spread in this way. Another example of this, is when you breathe in mold spores, which are carried in the air.
Another route — is through ingestion, which comes from consuming contaminated food or drink. For example, if you eat raw, undercooked, spoiled food, or drink unclean water you may become sick. This can lead to symptoms of gastrointestinal infection which include sore stomach, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
A third route pathogens can enter is through skin openings. Our skin is usually an excellent barrier to block infections. However, if the skin is opened by cuts, punctures, scratches, or insect bites(such as mosquitos), a pathogen may enter your body.
Finally, contamination of the wet or inner areas of the eyes-nose-mouth. Exposure of these areas can occur when interacting closely with a person, animal or the environment. For example, talking to someone, touching your face, a pet licking your face, swimming in contaminated water and many others.
You might be shocked to learn — that infectious micro-droplets can be sprayed onto your face when speaking with an infected person. COVID, for example, is mainly spread in this way.
In Summary — we’ve learned that once you have been exposed to the pathogen there are four common rOutes it can enter your body (respiratory, ingestion, skin breaks, and eyes-nose-mouth). The face is the most vulnerable to exposure, and therefore should be the most protected because three of these main infection rOutes are there. By limiting exposure and blocking the four main rOutes of pathogen transmission, you can better protect yourself from getting sick.
That’s it for this episode. I’ll see you in the next lesson, and don’t get sick … Be Safe, Be Biosafe.