So, ‘good’ bacteria are those that cause us no harm, in fact they frequently help to keep us well. Examples of these include Escherichia coli, which we need in our gastrointestinal tract to produce vitamin K (which is really importnant in blood clotting). Lactobacillus in the reproductive tract prevents us from getting yeast infections. Streptococcus in the mouth prevents other bacteria from overgrowing. Things go wrong when the wrong bacteria finds its way to the wrong site. For example, our blood should not contain any bacteria, so any type of bacteria in the blood is ‘bad’ and will make us very sick, very quickly. It is important to note though that bacteria must accomplish several steps before they can cause any illness. They must first be able to attach to our cells, then they must be able to gain entry into the cells and finally they must be able to replicate themselves. They cause damage when our immune system is overwhlemed by their number or if we have a damaged immune system from something like chemotherapy. Bacteria often produce toxins as they die too, so often even though we treat them with antibiotics, we can still be quite sick for several days after treatment as the toxins build up when the bacterial cells become damaged and leak. Many bacteria are opportunistic pathogens which means that they only really cause infection in susceptible hosts for example if you have a cut, then your skin is broken and the bacteria can get in to areas they would not normally have access to, this is an opportunistic infection. Others are classical pathogens and cause disease in anyone where they can gain entry into the cells. An example of this is anthrax. So for most bacteria, they can be good or bad depending on where, when and who they come into contact with!
So, ‘good’ bacteria are those that cause us no harm, in fact they frequently help to keep us well. Examples of these include Escherichia coli, which we need in our gastrointestinal tract to produce vitamin K (which is really importnant in blood clotting). Lactobacillus in the reproductive tract prevents us from getting yeast infections. Streptococcus in the mouth prevents other bacteria from overgrowing. Things go wrong when the wrong bacteria finds its way to the wrong site. For example, our blood should not contain any bacteria, so any type of bacteria in the blood is ‘bad’ and will make us very sick, very quickly. It is important to note though that bacteria must accomplish several steps before they can cause any illness. They must first be able to attach to our cells, then they must be able to gain entry into the cells and finally they must be able to replicate themselves. They cause damage when our immune system is overwhlemed by their number or if we have a damaged immune system from something like chemotherapy. Bacteria often produce toxins as they die too, so often even though we treat them with antibiotics, we can still be quite sick for several days after treatment as the toxins build up when the bacterial cells become damaged and leak. Many bacteria are opportunistic pathogens which means that they only really cause infection in susceptible hosts for example if you have a cut, then your skin is broken and the bacteria can get in to areas they would not normally have access to, this is an opportunistic infection. Others are classical pathogens and cause disease in anyone where they can gain entry into the cells. An example of this is anthrax. So for most bacteria, they can be good or bad depending on where, when and who they come into contact with!
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