Mechanisms of bacterial virulence and infection

Abstract

Extract

The control of many infectious diseases of veterinary importance has contributed to the virtual elimination in advanced countries of the catastrophic effects which these diseases once produced on human as well as animal populations; and, although there is still much to be done in the underdeveloped areas of the world, the measures for control of infectious disease are known and have only to be applied effectively in these areas. The success in controlling infectious diseases has been parallelled by the equally successful recognition and description of their causative micro-organisms. However, the mechanisms whereby these bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa produce disease are still not clear. A good deal is known about the classical bacterial toxaemias—e.g., those produced by the Clostridia spp.—and some information has accumulated about the antiphagocytic activities of certain bacterial capsular and cell-wall substances; but apart from these areas, little is known about the mechanisms of microbial pathogenicity. A few examples of this lack of knowledge are as follows.