I’ve mentioned before how microbes can be friends or foes. The truth is that the spectrum of microbes and the responses they elicit is much more broad than simply friendly or not. Take for instance “The Good”. Good microbes are essential to our health such as those that colonize our intestinal tract. These microflora outcompete harmful pathogens and can keep them from establishing infection and causing disease. Other microbes that are merely beneficial are the Lactobacillus and other species used to make foods and probiotics. These convey a variety of flavors to the foods that we eat as well as contribute to our ability to digest them. “The Bad” are those microbes that are pathogens that cause illness and disease. Many of these are present today as food borne illness such as E. coli and Salmonella. Certain species of these bacteria can cause short term illness while others can lead to long term disease. Another bad microbe that may be easily recognized to some is Neisseria gonorrhoeae which causes the STD Gonorrhea. The symptoms of this disease are quite bad however can be cleared up with a few rounds of antibiotics. Now while Salmonella and E. coli can certainly rear an ugly head they can still be dispatched if the right measures are taken. There are still those microbes that would be referred to as “The Ugly”. These are the microbes that do more than cause illness. They cause epidemics and have wide spread impact. One microbe that falls into this category includes Vibiro cholera which causes, you guessed it, Cholera. This is a disease acquired from drinking contaminated water that causes the host to quickly expel all of their intestinal fluids via diarrhea until death comes from dehydration. The victims of this disease suffer through a lot of pain and are left looking drawn and gaunt. Another ugly microbe that whose name may be lesser known is Yersinia pestis. The name may not sound familiar but the disease it caused was referred to as the Black Death that ravaged all through Europe in the 1300’s. Perhaps the ugly of the ugliest of microbes that is present today would be the virus that causes HIV. This is a RNA virus that mutates rapidly which is why a cure has not been found. The virus that was originally transmitted from contact with blood from Chimpanzees is now become pandemic affecting people across the globe. It is clear that microbes play many different roles in the lives of humans and we would be well advised to know which do what.
