What do viruses/bacteria exactly do inside of our bodies that makes them dangerous and causes us to get sick?
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It depends on the virus/bacteria. They all have their own mechanisms and so they all produce different systemic responses.
For example; beta hemolytic streptococcus produces its own super toxin.
When you have tonsillitis caused by strep, it’s not just a sore throat, but this toxin that causes you to feel so awful.
In rare cases this toxin can cause a cytokine cascade resulting in shock or organ death. This is commonly known as Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome.
Broadly speaking whether or not it comes down to the pathogen or our bodies immune response, it’s a little of column A, a little of column B, and a little of column C (which I’d put in underlying conditions, overall health and susceptibility etc)
Have a look into how the drugs for malaria target the pathogen at a **very** specific part of its lifecycle. It’s pretty much the same with all drugs. Everything has its nuance and treatments can be tailored to target a very specific process. Really clever what we can do!
Viruses hijack your cells’ metabolism to create more of themselves. The cells are ruined in the process, which is troubling when the cells are part of your vital organs. Cells destroyed in a membrane or lining can cause fluids to leak in places they aren’t supposed to go, very dangerous when those fluids are stomach acids, gut contents, or the barrier between your blood and brain.
Bacteria are just trying to survive, and may attempt to modify their surroundings (such as producing biofilms) to better do so, disrupting your body’s normal operation. This may allow other bacteria to start colonizing, causing their own problems. They can also produce toxic wastes—their toilet is your bloodstream. All the while, they are consuming your body’s nutrients.
Your body’s immune response can also be damaging to yourself. Inflammation, high fevers, consuming infected cells, ordering cells to destroy themselves (again a problem in vital organs), and other “scorched earth” responses can destroy invaders, but at great cost to your body’s integrity.
Mr. Virus is hanging out somewhere in the world and wants to make copies of himself. Mr. Virus doesn’t have the machinery to do it. However those cell in the human body have plenty of machinery for cloning. Buuut they don’t like to share.
Mr. Virus decides the best way to make his clones is to sneak into a cell, hijack the machinery, and start pumping out clones as fast as he can before the body cops find him. Mr. Virus and all his clones absolutely do not care at all at the state of the machinery they leave behind so they use all the cloning pods way more than they were designed to be used and aren’t gentle when using them so they break more.
The body cops have come in to fight Mr. Virus. Unfortunately they really only know one way of doing this, burning down the warehouse with Mr. Virus and his clones inside. As it turns out this also breaks a lot of cells, but because the body cops have a measured response, they only burn down the cells with Mr. Virus in them (and maybe a couple from collateral damage) and stop there.
You feel sick from one of two things going on. 1) Mr. Virus and his clones have used and abused so many cells that a significant number have gone bust from pumping out more clones and now you can consciously feel it. 2) The body cops are in the process of burning down some warehouses and you’re feeling the side effects of that.
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