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Germs: Tiny living things that can make us very ill

20 Dec 2020

By Manuri Kulatunge Since we were babies, our parents worked hard to protect us from germs. These eventually became habits ingrained into our lives. Taking a regular bath, washing hands before eating, and living clean are some of the many things most of us practise to keep ourselves safely away from illnesses. “Germs” is the broader term used to explain all tiny living things that can make us very ill. We can recognise viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa as four main living things that tend to attack the human body and make us ill, if they get inside us. Viruses are a daily conversation these days as the Covid-19 pandemic is upon us. Viruses always need a host to survive, reproduce, and spread into more hosts. The host can be any living being depending on the particular virus in question. It can be a plant, animal, or a human. A virus, if it gets inside a host, will find a cell to live inside and start multiplying. During this process the host will produce various symptoms. If it’s a human, he can show symptoms like fever, rash, spots, or cough. Chickenpox, measles, Covid-19, or flu are all results of viruses. They take a period of time to develop inside a person making that person very sick and then with time it will get cured. Scientists have developed vaccines for some viruses and there are many which do not have a cure and can be fatal to humans. Bacteria, on the other hand, are one-celled organisms that thrive in a suitable environment depending on what kind they are. If we humans get a bacteria infection, it can be a cavity in our teeth, an ear infection, or simply a sore throat that would go away in a few days. Not all bacteria are bad. There are bacteria living in our intestines that enable us to digest our food better and absorb more nutrients, making us healthier. There are others that are used to produce medicines like antibiotics, vaccines, and enzymes, without which we would not be able to cure certain illnesses at all. If you have ever had an itchy rash between the toes, chances are that you have had what’s called athlete’s foot. This is caused by fungi which are more plant-like, multi-celled living things. Fungi love moist and warm places to live in. Once attached to a host, they start eating into it while living on it since they are unable to produce their own food. All these fungi can’t be called bad. There are good fungi that have been extremely beneficial to mankind. Penicillin is such a product used to cure infections, made from the penicillium mould. Protozoa is another form of single-celled beings that live on its own or in a host and feed off of organic matter. Amoeba, which we all have heard about, is such a protozoa. These kinds of germs are easily spread through water and, once in the intestines of a human being, can go on to cause nausea, diarrhea, and indigestion. But common tummy problems aren’t the only things they are capable of. They can go on to cause African sleeping sickness, toxoplasmosis, and even malaria, among many things. Knowing what they exactly are and what they can do to us enables us to make a conscious effort to practise better hygiene. In doing so, this could be the difference between life or death to us and anyone we do or do not know.


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