ILAGAN, Danica B. II NUR 5 MICROBIOLOGY. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms.

Microbiology can be defined as the biology of microscopic organisms, or life too small to be seen with the naked eye. Microbiology covers several disciplines, including virology (study of viruses), bacteriology (study of bacteria), mycology (study of fungi), and parasitology (study of parasites). Each of these disciplines may include but is not limited to studies of infectious disease-causing microorganisms. For example, specialties within microbiology may include microbial physiology (i.e., microbial growth, metabolism, structure), microbial genetics and evolution, environmental microbiology (i.e., microbial ecology), industrial microbiology (i.e., industrial fermentation, wastewater treatment), and food microbiology (i.e., use of microbes for food production, fermentation). INFECTIOUS DISEASES. A disease caused by a microorganism or other agent, such as a bacterium, fungus, or virus, that enters the body of an organism. Any disease caused by invasion by a pathogen which subsequently grows and multiplies in the body. Infectious disease is disease caused by pathogen which enters the body and triggers the development of an infection. They have a range of causes and they can be found all over the world. These diseases are considered contagious or communicable, meaning that they can be passed from person to person. It is also possible for such diseases to spread indirectly through unhygienic conditions, or from animals to people, in which case they are known as zoonotic diseases. GERM THEORY OF DISEASES. It is also called the pathogenic theory of medicine, is a theory that proposes that microorganisms are the cause of many diseases. KOCHS POSTULATE. In 1890 the German physician and bacteriologist Robert Koch set out his celebrated criteria for judging whether a given bacteria is the cause of a given disease. Koch's criteria brought some much-needed scientific clarity to what was then a very confused field.

Koch's postulates are as follows:

The bacteria must be present in every case of the disease. The bacteria must be isolated from the host with the disease and grown in pure culture. The specific disease must be reproduced when a pure culture of the bacteria is inoculated into a healthy susceptible host. The bacteria must be recoverable from the experimentally infected host.

However, Koch's postulates have their limitations and so may not always be the last word. They may not hold if:

The particular bacteria (such as the one that causes leprosy) cannot be "grown in pure culture" in the laboratory. There is no animal model of infection with that particular bacteria. It has acquired extra virulence factors making it pathogenic. It gains access to deep tissues via trauma, surgery, an IV line, etc. It infects an immunocompromised patient. Not all people infected by a bacteria may develop disease-subclinical infection is usually more common than clinically obvious infection.

A harmless bacteria may cause disease if:

Despite such limitations, Koch's postulates are still a useful benchmark in judging whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between a bacteria (or any other type of microorganism) and a clinical disease.