What are infections?

Aims and objectives:

Outcomes:

An infection occurs when a microorganism finds its way into the body and causes harm. The organism uses the body as a host to sustain itself and then multiplies. These infectious organisms are called pathogens and include harmful bacteria, viruses and prions. Diseases caused by pathogens can range from a mild infection to a life-threatening condition and represent a real and every-day risk in the dental practice.

Bacteria: these are single-cell organisms that do not need a host to sustain them. Some types of bacteria can survive in extreme environments, including extreme heat and intense cold. They can therefore be extremely resilient, particularly mycobacteria which have a particularly thick cell wall and can survive for many hours in the air and on skin, surfaces and surgical instruments. There are many diseases caused by harmful bacteria, some of the most deadly being tuberculosis, dysentery and cholera.