Question

What are some special circumstance that might allow normally harmless microbes to cause disease.  (Hint: It’s not always a change in the microbe…)

Answer 1

Answer: Special circumstance that might allow normally harmless microbes to cause disease:

• There are some microbes which dwell in the nasal passage harmlessly
• However, sometimes when microbes such as S. pneumoniae senses danger, the S. pneumoniae colonies disperse into various parts of the body in an attempt to save itself
• As a result it makes us sick by causing serious disease such as pneumonia
• It is observed that there is a strong correlation between influenza caused illness and subsequent infection of S. pneumoniae
• When there is influenza infection or flu, the body responds to it by raising the temperature and releasing stress hormones like norepinephrine
• The S. pneumoniae respond to these changes by dispersing the colonies to various parts of the body
• They also begin to express the genes, enabling them to be more deadly for the respiratory cells