Essay Sample on Micro-organisms: Harmful or Helpful

Introduction

Micro-organisms are microscopic organisms that can be harmful or helpful to plants and animals. Some of the examples of micro-organisms include fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and algae. Each category of the five micro-organisms has several types of disease-causing micro-organisms. For instance, there are different types of bacteria. If I were to be a micro-organism invading a host’s body, then I would be legionella, a bacteria of the Legionellaceae family.

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Health Concerns

I usually live in freshwater surroundings like streams and lakes. I can become a health concern when I grow and spread in man-made building water systems such as large plumbing systems, hot water tanks, and heaters as I like to live in stagnant waters of around 35 degrees. In addition, I can also move through the air ducts of a building if they have not been maintained well. It is from the waters that I can spread and infect people. My dream is to reside in the lungs of the people, but first, I will have to find a way into their airways, specifically through freshwaters that people drink (Heijnsbergen, 2017). Once I am in the lungs, I will start causing infections that will trigger an inflammatory response. The inflammatory response will act as the defensive mechanism of the individuals' body to fight me but I will continue to cause havoc by destroying their lung cells. I will cause diarrhea, fever, dyspnea, musculoskeletal pain and a kind of pneumonia referred to as Legionnaires' disease. However, in the beginning, the above symptoms will be very mild, and I will not attack the lungs.

To survive in the host's body, I will make it hard to be detected. The only way that I will be detectable is the antigens of the urine. I will also develop resistance to inflammatory response so that I can fight all the white blood cells' actions and remain the body unaffected. I will continue to replicate in the body so that I can defeat any inflammatory response from the host's body.

As I had mentioned earlier, I will cause several problems to the host, most importantly, Pontiac fever, Legionnaires' disease, diarrhea, muscle pains, and dyspnea (Heijnsbergen, 2017). I will also destroy the lung cells such that the person will develop respiratory conditions that, if not treated, will lead to the death of the person.

Hygiene Conditions

My greatest fear is that people have improved their hygiene conditions, and people are also draining stagnant waters. Many buildings air ducks have also been maintained well, and therefore, their condition will not allow me to replicate as I find my way to people's airways. People do not live near lakes and streams as they try to avoid other infections like Malaria, and therefore, it would be difficult for me to find my way into their lungs.

Once detected, antibiotics such as levofloxacin can be administered to the patients to fight me (Heijnsbergen, 2017). Antibiotics will automatically end my life in the host as I cannot develop a resistant mechanism to fight different antibiotics that may be administered to fight me. Also, increased hygiene among people means that I will not be able to replicate, which will threaten my existence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is not easy for me to find my way into people's lungs, but once I do cause many problems like diarrhea, dyspnea, fever, among many others. I will try to remain undetectable, but my greatest fear is that people will improve their hygiene, and once they detect me, they will use antibiotics to kill me.

References

Heijnsbergen, H. H. L. (2017). Alternative sources of Legionella bacteria (Doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University). https://aem.asm.org/content/82/17/5125.short.