Asked by: Dulcie Saca
medical health infectious diseases

What is a microorganism that causes disease?

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Most microbes belong to four major groups: bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi. (To find out more, see the “Bacteria/Viruses/Protozoa” fact sheets). Disease-causing microbes can also be called pathogens, germs or bugs and are responsible for causing infectious diseases.


Consequently, which diseases are caused by microorganisms?

Microbes cause infectious diseases such as flu and measles. There is also strong evidence that microbes may contribute to many non–infectious chronic diseases such as some forms of cancer and coronary heart disease. Different diseases are caused by different types of micro-organisms.

Also Know, what are 5 diseases caused by bacteria? Common pathogenic bacteria and the types of bacterial diseases they cause include:
  • Escherichia coli and Salmonella cause food poisoning.
  • Helicobacter pylori cause gastritis and ulcers.
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea.
  • Neisseria meningitidis causes meningitis.

Furthermore, what are the 4 types of microorganisms?

Bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, and algae are the major groups of microorganisms.

What bacteria is harmful to humans?

Harmful bacteria are called pathogenic bacteria because they cause disease and illnesses like strep throat, staph infections, cholera, tuberculosis, and food poisoning.

Related Question Answers

Elva Zhovnir

Professional

What diseases are caused by fungi?

Fungi cause three different types of human illness: poisonings, parasitic infections, and allergies. Many poisonous mushrooms are eaten by mistake because they look like edible mushrooms. Parasitic yeasts cause candidiasis, ringworm, and athlete's foot. Mold allergies are very common.

Charlyn Gridharan

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Are all bacteria harmful?

Not all bacteria are harmful, and some bacteria that live in your body are helpful. Many disease-causing bacteria produce toxins — powerful chemicals that damage cells and make you ill. Other bacteria can directly invade and damage tissues.

Cuie Euskirchen

Professional

What microbes cause disease in humans?

Microbes and disease
Infectious disease Microbe that causes the disease Type of microbe
German measles Rubella Virus
Whooping cough Bordatella pertussis Bacterium
Bubonic plague Yersinia pestis Bacterium
TB (Tuberculosis) Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacterium

Azdin Jullien

Explainer

What factors contribute to the spread of disease?

Many factors are contributing to disease emergence, including climate change, globalization and urbanization, and most of these factors are to some extent caused by humans. Pathogens may be more or less prone to emergence in themselves, and rapidly mutating viruses are more common among the emerging pathogens.

Matteo Agratchev

Explainer

How are diseases transmitted?

Infectious diseases can be spread through direct contact such as: Person to person. Infectious diseases commonly spread through the direct transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another. These germs can also spread through the exchange of body fluids from sexual contact.

Solano Hartges

Explainer

Which disease is caused by virus?

Viruses cause familiar infectious diseases such as the common cold, flu and warts. They also cause severe illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, smallpox, and Ebola. Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves.

Dolly Chiguano

Pundit

What are the 10 most common diseases?

  • Unintentional injuries.
  • Chronic lower respiratory disease.
  • Stroke and cerebrovascular diseases.
  • Alzheimer's disease. Deaths in 2017: 121,404.
  • Diabetes. Deaths in 2017: 83,564.
  • Influenza and pneumonia. Deaths in 2017: 55,672.
  • Kidney disease. Deaths in 2017: 50,633.
  • Suicide. Deaths in 2017: 47,173.

Shay Zschech

Pundit

What is the smallest microorganism?

Mycoplasma

Xevi Ravenstein

Pundit

What microorganisms cause infection?

A variety of microorganisms can cause disease. Pathogenic organisms are of five main types: viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and worms. Some common pathogens in each group are listed in the column on the right. Infectious agents can grow in various body compartments, as shown schematically in Fig.

Widad Bakusoff

Pundit

What are microbiological organisms?

Microorganisms or microbes are microscopic organisms that exist as unicellular, multicellular, or cell clusters. Microorganims are widespread in nature and are beneficial to life, but some can cause serious harm. They can be divided into six major types: bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses.

Yadiel Mascuñano

Pundit

Which microorganism are important in our daily life?

Microorganisms are very useful in our daily lives as they are used in: Food: Fermented food and beverages. Medicines: To produce antibiotics, vaccines, hormones etc. Industry: To produce pigments, acids, enzymes, biofertilizers, biopesticides, to degrade harmful substances such as plastic.

Vance Walton

Teacher

How are microbes harmful?

A few harmful microbes, for example less than 1% of bacteria, can invade our body (the host) and make us ill. Microbes cause infectious diseases such as flu and measles. Different diseases are caused by different types of micro-organisms. Microbes that cause disease are called pathogens.

Yeneba Kim

Teacher

Do viruses have a nucleus?

While there some advanced viruses that seem fancy, viruses don't have any of the parts you would normally think of when you think of a cell. They have no nuclei, mitochondria, or ribosomes. Some viruses do not even have cytoplasm. The capsid protects the core but also helps the virus infect new cells.

Laima Neefe

Teacher

What type of microorganism is bacteria?

Bacteria. Bacteria are unicellular organisms. The cells are described as prokaryotic because they lack a nucleus. They exist in four major shapes: bacillus (rod shape), coccus (spherical shape), spirilla (spiral shape), and vibrio (curved shape).

Rosario Erdtel

Teacher

What is needed for bacterial growth?

Like all living things, bacteria need food, water and the proper environment to live and grow. Most bacteria grow best within certain ranges of temperature, and have specific requirements related to their need for air, the proper amount of water, acid and salt.

Raeann Maierthaler

Reviewer

What are the most common microorganisms?

The most common types are bacteria, viruses and fungi. There are also microbes called protozoa.

Sintia Vagd

Reviewer

What is the most common bacterial infection?

Common Bacterial Infections.
Staphylococcus aureus - impetigo, bullous impetigo, scalded skin syndrome, folliculitis, furuncles, carbuncles, cellulitis, myositis and toxic shock syndrome. Streptococcus pyogenes - impetigo, scarlet fever, erysipelas, necrotizing fasciitis, and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.

Eguskiñe Lehmanns

Reviewer

How do doctors treat a bacterial infection?

Antibiotics. Antibiotics are grouped into "families" of similar types. Bacteria also are put together in groups of similar types, such as streptococcus or E. Antibiotics are usually reserved for bacterial infections, because these types of drugs have no effect on illnesses caused by viruses.

Lettie Albendin

Reviewer

What does a bacterial infection look like?

Bacterial Skin Infections
Cellulitis causes a painful, red infection that is usually warm to the touch. Cellulitis occurs most often on the legs, but it can appear anywhere on the body. Folliculitis is an infection of the hair follicles that causes red, swollen bumps that look like pimples.

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EveryThingWhat Staff Editor

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17th February, 2020

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