The general class of disease caused by pathogenic bacteria invading and multiplying within host tissue, ranging from localized wound and skin infections to systemic, life-threatening conditions such as sepsis. This atlas records bacterial infection as a class alongside specific bacterial diseases, tuberculosis and cholera among them, which merit their own entities for their distinct histories and treatments; this entity is the general target of Louis Pasteur's and Robert Koch's germ theory work and of the subsequent development of antisepsis and antibiotics, addressed as a class of problem rather than one disease.
Facts
Condition Class First DescribedMarks Robert Koch's 1876 demonstration that a single specific bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, causes a single specific disease, anthrax, the first rigorous proof of germ theory rather than the first observation of a microorganism. First Described (Era)Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first observed microorganisms under a microscope in the 1670s, two centuries before their role in causing disease was established. 3 Classification
ICD-10 ChapterXVIII: Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings, Not Elsewhere Classified 2 Communicable or Non-communicable Connections
Associated With
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Penicillin, Discoveries Alexander Fleming's 1928 discovery of penicillin is the first antibiotic effective against bacterial infection generally.
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Treated By
Source Amoxicillin (Wikipedia)
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Antisepsis prevents bacterial infection of wounds and surgical sites rather than treating an infection already established. Joseph Lister's 1867 antiseptic method, using carbolic acid, dramatically reduced post-surgical infection and mortality.
Source A History of MedicineLois N. Magner
Source Penicillin (Wikipedia)
Source Vancomycin (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Pathogenic bacteria
WikipediaLead section, disease-category statement
Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease.
Lead section, body-system statement
By contrast, several thousand species are considered part of the gut flora, with a few hundred species present in each individual human's digestive tract.
Lead section, body-system statement (integumentary)
The body is continually exposed to many species of bacteria, including beneficial commensals, which grow on the skin and mucous membranes, and saprophytes, which grow mainly in the soil and in decaying matter.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter XVIIIQuote, List of chapters, Chapter XVIII
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
3. A History of Medicine
Lois N. Magner, CRC Press
Penicillin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Penicillin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Penicillin, Lead section
beta-lactam antibiotics
Amoxicillin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Amoxicillin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Amoxicillin, Lead section
used to treat bacterial infections
Vancomycin (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationTreated By: Vancomycin, Lead sectionQuote, Treated By: Vancomycin, Lead section
used to treat certain bacterial infections
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