• Question: how do we beat bacteria

    Asked by anon-40084 on 9 Nov 2022.
    • Photo: Vincent Monchal

      Vincent Monchal answered on 9 Nov 2022:


      We beat the bacteria thanks to our blood that will attack them, eat them and expulse them out of our bodies. That’s why people are bothering you with eating healthy, do some sport, go outside, it’s improving your immune system, in other words your blood is stronger to fight against bacterias.

    • Photo: Ciara Buckley

      Ciara Buckley answered on 9 Nov 2022:


      Great question, bacteria are very smart and the more we fight them with medicines, the more they learn and change to fight back. As Vincent has said, the best methods are to strengthen our immune systems so that our bodies can fight off infections before they take hold.

    • Photo: Ingmar Schoen

      Ingmar Schoen answered on 9 Nov 2022:


      There are cells called macrophages which eat bacteria. For example, if you inhale bacteria enclosed in tiny water droplets floating in the air, these can end up deep in your lung. Fortunately there are macrophages in these parts of your lung which ‘vacuum clean’ the lung from small particles, including bacteria. Then the bacteria are digested by these cells. Job done!

      If the body alone does not manage to get rid of the bacteria, medicines called antibiotics can help to destroy them. Unfortunately, antibiotics also destroy some of the ‘good’ bacteria in your gut. And sometimes bacteria become resistant to the antibiotic if the treatment is not long enough. This is why you should be strictly following the advice of your GP when taking antibiotics.

    • Photo: Anna Desmond

      Anna Desmond answered on 9 Nov 2022:


      Our body has a specific system used to beat bacteria. This system is called the immune system which contains cells, tissues and organs that work together to protect us from bacteria. Our white blood cells protect us by chewing up invading bacteria and allowing our body to remember and recognise bacteria that has infected the body before. Even though we have this system we can still get sick sometimes but the immune system helps us get well again. We can help our immune system by washing our hands, eating healthy foods, getting exercise and plenty of sleep.
      Sometimes our body might need a bit of help to fight bacteria and taking medicine called antibiotics from the doctor can help to fight the infection.

    • Photo: Vanessa Rodrigues

      Vanessa Rodrigues answered on 10 Nov 2022:


      I agree with the other scientists where the immune system starts up to protect the body when the body is invaded with bacteria that can cause infections.

      The only part I’d like to add is that there is ‘good’ bacteria too that is beneficial to the body, and these lie in the stomach, called gut bacteria. These guys produce majority of the antibodies (the defense army) for the immune system. In addition to this, we also consume a bacteria called Lactobacillus in Yoghurt to help with digestion.

    • Photo: Robert Forster

      Robert Forster answered on 17 Nov 2022:


      Early detection of infection means appropriate antibiotics can be given before the bacteria have much of a chance to multiply- it is important to know when bacteria rather than viruses are making us sick since antibiotics do not work against viruses. Over administration of antibiotics means that resistant bacteria continue to grow and these infections are very hard to treat. New antibiotics are being synthesised and new “cocktails” of multiple antibiotics are being used to treat infections like MRSA but we need to reduce our use of these potent medicines for mild infections! Some scientists warn that antimicrobial resistance is as big a threat to humanity as climate change!

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