Overcoming Infection: A Personal Battle with E. coli

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Many people die a year from infection. Infection is one of the leading causes of death. There are many different precautions to prevent infection that are well known. However, anyone is susceptible to infection, healthy or not. I am healthy person physically and mentally. However, a healthy person can still be susceptible to infection. I was infected by the bacteria Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli. While infected by a pathogen my body went through all of the periods of illness because the bacteria had made it through four out of five components that made it lethal. It led to a major kidney infection. There are five aspects that make a pathogen highly lethal. First, the pathogen must get in the body through a portal of entry. Next the pathogen must stay in the body. The pathogen could be defeated by the host’s defenses also known as the immune system responses cancelling out the opportunity for the pathogen to start an infection. The pathogen must defeat the host’s …show more content…

This first period is called the Incubation period. This is from the point a pathogen inters your body up until the first minor symptoms occur. The second period is called the prodromal period; this starts when the first minor symptoms occur up until the major symptoms occur because of the pathogen creating infection. Some minor symptoms are headache, nausea, and dizziness. The third period is the period of illness; this is when the major symptoms occur because the infection is growing. Some major symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, and inflammation. If a patient is infected with a lethal pathogen it is possible the patient has a chance of death in the period of illness if not treated with antibiotics right away. The fourth period is the period of decline; this is when the symptoms begin to go away. The fifth, and last period, is called the convalesce period; this is when the previously infected patient regains strength and is

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