Outbreak Lesson 2: \u00a0How do viruses spread throughout the body?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Lesson 2<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Microbes cover all of our <\/span>skin, gut, and mucous membrane.\u00a0 Our bodies actually have 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. Microbes in our stomach or gastrointestinal tract contain at least 10 trillion organisms which are thought to prevent our gut from being overcome by disease-causing organisms. Our microbes also break down vitamins, assist in digestion, turn food into absorbable nutrients and stimulate our immune system. Most of our microbes work with our bodies to help us thrive but some can cause us to become sick or even kill us. Humans produce new microbes every twenty years, yet bacteria produce new microbes every 20-30 minutes and viruses even faster! There are five major types of infectious agents or pathogenic microbes: Viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and helminths.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Viruses are microorganisms, making them invisible to the eye. They are not living organisms due to not being able to reproduce by themselves but rather need a host. Once it infects the host it is able to reproduce itself and replicate its genetic material using the host’s cells copying itself many times over.<\/span><\/p>\n Before you start to panic, remind yourself that infections do not always lead to disease. Infections occur when viruses, bacteria, or other microbes enter your body and multiply. Disease happens when your cells are damaged in your body due to infection and signs and systems of illness start to appear. After this, your immune system starts to try to defend you. Your white blood cells, antibodies, and other mechanisms start to work to get rid of the foreign invader in your body. You may have symptoms of an infection at this point but that is the result of the immune system trying to eliminate the infection from the body.\u00a0 Viruses, make us sick by killing cells or disrupting cell function.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHOW VIRUSES WORK\u00a0<\/strong>