"Germ theory of disease" from_date:2012

Enteric immunity, the gut microbiome, and sepsis: Rethinking the germ theory of disease Sepsis is a poorly understood syndrome of systemic inflammation responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. The integrity of the gut epithelium and competence of adaptive immune responses are notoriously compromised during sepsis, and the prevalent assumption in the scientific and medical

in the biological understanding of infectious diseases. Indeed, the hope kindled by the germ theory of disease was rapidly subdued by the infection enigma, in need of a host solution, when it was realized that most individuals infected with most infectious agents continue to do well. The root causes of disease and death in the unhappy few remained unclear. While canonical approaches in vitro (cellular

well? For most of human history, the answer assumed the hand of providence. With the advent of the germ theory of disease, the focus on disease causality became the microbe, but this did not explain how there can be different outcomes of infection in different individuals with the same microbe. Here we examine the attributes of susceptibility in the context of the "damage-response framework

Cleanliness in context: reconciling hygiene with a modern microbial perspective The concept of hygiene is rooted in the relationship between cleanliness and the maintenance of good health. Since the widespread acceptance of the germ theory of disease, hygiene has become increasingly conflated with sterilization. In reviewing studies across the hygiene literature (most often hand hygiene), we

these progressive disorders illustrates a greater problem of failure of the germ theory of disease for complex disorders. Multiple genetic discoveries and new complex disease models force consideration of a new paradigm of 'precision medicine', requiring a new mechanistic definition of CP. Recognizing the advances in understanding complex gene and environment interactions, as well as the development of new

other people. In houses of the sick (Gk: nosokomoi), however, we can be vectors for some pretty deadly nosocomial organisms. Strangely, this principle of personal infectivity appears to have been recognised long before the germ theory of disease. Hence the quarantining of ships in the lagoon of medieval Venice; the isolation of the village of Eyam in the English plague year of 1665; the astonishing

Welcome to Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease—A New Era in Open Access Publication Historically, tropical medicine emerged from a multidisciplinary background as a result of progress in the areas of public health and hygiene, travel and exploration, biology and evolution, and the germ theory of disease [1].[...].

, that many unnecessary amputations were done, and that care was not state of the art for the times. None of these assertions is true. Physicians were practicing in an era before the germ theory of disease was established, before sterile technique and antisepsis were known, with very few effective medications, and often operating 48 to 72 hours with no sleep. Each side was woefully unprepared, in all

Revolutionary Science On rare occasions in the history of science, remarkable discoveries transform human society and forever alter mankind's view of the world. Examples of such discoveries include the heliocentric theory, Newtonian physics, the germ theory of disease, quantum theory, plate tectonics and the discovery that DNA carries genetic information. The science philosopher Thomas Kuhn

an attempt to explain how contagious diseases could spread in a population, which is why it rapidly lost favor after Louis Pasteur's discoveries and the germ theory of disease was postulated. It went beyond just infectious diseases, though, with some claiming, for example, that one could become obese by inhaling the odor of food. Electrosmog is basically the concept that low level electromagnetic fields

and available technology of the time, Béchamp’s hypothesis was not entirely unreasonable. It was, however, superseded by Pasteur’s germ theory of disease and Koch’s later work that resulted in Koch’s postulates. What needs to be remembered is that not only did Béchamp’s hypothesis fail to be confirmed by scientific evidence, but his idea lacked the explanatory and predictive power of Pasteur’s theory. Fassa

was influential at the time, and, given the science and technology in those days, his hypothesis was not entirely unreasonable. It was, however, superseded by Pasteur’s germ theory of disease and Koch’s later work that resulted in Koch’s postulates. Besides not fitting with the scientific evidence, Béchamp’s idea had nowhere near the explanatory and predictive power that Pasteur’s theory did. On the other hand

What is infectiveness and how is it involved in infection and immunity? Proof of the Germ theory of disease and acceptance of Koch's postulates in the late 1890's launched the fields of microbial pathogenesis and infectious diseases and provided the conceptual framework that has guided thought and research in these fields. A central tenet that emerged from studies with microbes that fulfilled

discoveries were recorded until 1100 A.D. when the smallpox vaccine was described. During the eighteenth century, vaccines for cholera and yellow fever were reported and Edward Jenner, the father of vaccination and immunology, published his work on smallpox. The nineteenth century was a major landmark, with the "Germ Theory of disease" of Louis Pasteur, the discovery of the germ tubercle bacillus

sepsis as “life threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host response to infection. Sepsis arises from the body’s exaggerated immune response to infection. Based on the “germ theory” of disease, it was initially thought that the inflammation, organ injury, and death that follows an infection were solely due to the body’s response to microbial products, such as pathogen-associated molecular

What Is a Host? Incorporating the Microbiota into the Damage-Response Framework Since proof of the germ theory of disease in the late 19th century, a major focus of the fields of microbiology and infectious diseases has been to seek differences between pathogenic and nonpathogenic microbes and the role that the host plays in microbial pathogenesis. Remarkably, despite the increasing recognition

environment is dependent upon the interaction of many variables within the ecological context in which it is found. It is commonly recognised that this diversity in health outcomes after individuals have been exposed to an infectious agent is not highlighted in the germ theory of disease that is adopted in western scientific medicine. These diverse health outcomes are a result of differences in the host’s immunology, physiology, social and emotional environment as well as differences in the ecological and agent characteristics (Doyal and Doyal 1984 p97; Friis and Sellers 2004; Gilbert 2004). In contrast, the germ theory describes disease as being caused by the infectious agent and resulting from internal biological changes. This simplified theory, termed a reductionist theory, is a central belief

thesis:It is commonly recognised that this diversity in health outcomes after individuals have been exposed to an infectious agent is not highlighted in the germ theory of disease that is adopted in western scientific medicine. These diverse health outcomes are a result of differences in the host’s immunology, physiology, social and emotional environment as well as differences in the ecological and agent characteristics (Doyal and Doyal 1984 p97; Friis and Sellers 2004; Gilbert 2004). In contrast, the germ theory describes disease as being caused by the infectious agent and resulting from internal biological changes. This simplified theory, termed a reductionist theory, is a central belief of the scientific medical model (SMM) and it lends itself to using a vaccine to prevent disease from infectious agents