What is an infection?

Many are interested in the question of what an infection is. If to say briefly, the infection is the ingress of pathogenic microbes into the human body, with their subsequent multiplication.

This process, as a rule, is accompanied by characteristic features of local and general order.

Types of infections

Infections are distributed by species that differ in the way the pathogens penetrate the body.

Endogenous infection, or autoinfection, occursin case of a decrease in the body's own defense. The microbe is already inside its "master" and, under favorable conditions for it, causes infection.
Experimental infection - artificially created under experimental conditions.
Exogenous infection - the microbe enters the body from the environment.
Secondary infection - a new microbe causes a new disease in the background of the uncompleted old, so a new pathogen joins the untreated infection.
Mixed infection - in this case, the disease can be caused by several pathogens at the same time.
Reinfection - re-infection with the same pathogen, which has just been completely cured.

Stages of infectious diseases

Each infectious disease develops and proceeds according to the following stages:

The incubation period. This stage proceeds secretly, a person does not even suspect that he is already sick. The duration of this period of time is not the same for all pathogens. So, the flu will show itself in a few hours, and hepatitis can live in the body secretly up to several months.
Prodromal stage. At this stage, the first signs of the disease begin to appear, but it is still difficult to make an accurate diagnosis. Symptoms such as weakness, headache, apathy, loss of appetite, insomnia and joint aches are common in many diseases.
The height of the disease. At this stage, the clinical picture of the disease is completely determined, an accurate diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed.
The final stage is recovery. All symptoms of the disease fade away, the person returns to his usual state. The state of health improves, the body is fully restored.

On how to cope with various kinds of infections, you can find out from the articles of our resource: