Bacterial Infection

Symptoms

Incubation period from 2 to 12 days;
•    Pain is localized only at the site of the lesion;
•    Subfebrile temperature (until inflammation is highly developed);
•    Severe redness of the mucous membranes (only with severe inflammation);
•    The formation of purulent abscesses;
•    Purulent discharge;
•    Plaque in the throat of a white-yellow color;
•    Intoxication (lethargy, fatigue, headache);
•    Apathy;
•    Decreased or complete lack of appetite;
•    Exacerbation of migraine;
•    The disease lasts more than 10-12 days.
Apart from this complex of symptoms, a characteristic feature of bacterial infections is that they do not go away on their own, and without treatment, the symptoms only get worse.
That is, if Acute Respiratory Viral Infection (ARVI) can pass without specific treatment, it is enough to adhere to the correct regimen, take fortifying agents, vitamins, then bacterial inflammation will progress until antibiotics are taken. 

Treatment

Today, medicine is quite effective in defeating many disease-causing bacteria with the help of antibiotics. It is thanks to these drugs that the vast majority of diseases in this group have ceased to be dangerous to health and life. At the same time, antibiotics are potent substances that eliminate not only pathogenic, but also other bacteria. Therefore, they can only be used as prescribed by a doctor. In addition, it is important to remember that such medicines are effective only in the fight against bacteria, they do not act on viruses and other infectious agents. Their use without an accurate diagnosis or for prevention purposes can worsen the patient's condition.

Tests Required for Diagnosis

Blood test for bacterial infection
In cases where various pathogenic bacilli and cocci became the cause of the disease, the study reveals the following clinical picture:
•    Increase in leukocytes;
•    An increase in the level of neutrophils, but it may be the norm;
•    Decrease in the number of lymphocytes;
•    The presence of metamyelocytes, myelocytes;
•    Increase in ESR.
Not everyone may understand what metamyelocytes and myelocytes are. These are also blood elements that are normally not detected during analysis, since they are contained in the bone marrow. But if there are problems with hematopoiesis, such cells can be detected. Their appearance indicates a severe inflammatory process.
Differential diagnosis is very important, because the whole point is in a different approach to treatment. It is known that antibiotic therapy has no effect on viruses, so there is no point in prescribing antibiotics for ARVI. 
Rather, antibiotics will only harm - after all, such drugs destroy not only pathogenic, but also beneficial microorganisms, which partially form immunity. But with a bacterial infection, the appointment of antibiotics is mandatory, otherwise the body will not cope with the disease, and it will at least become chronic.
This is what diseases are all about. However, despite the differences, the same therapy is sometimes prescribed for bacterial and viral infections. As a rule, this approach is practiced in pediatrics: even with an obvious viral infection, antibiotics are prescribed. The reason is simple: children's immunity is still weak, and a bacterial infection is added to the virus in almost all cases, so antibiotics may well be justified.

Useful info

Unlike a virus, bacteria are full-fledged living microorganisms, many of which successfully coexist with humans. For example, it is the microflora in the intestines that helps us efficiently absorb food.
Scientists distinguish three groups of bacteria:
1.    Pathogenic - those that always lead to disease. These are salmonella, pale treponema, and gonococcus.

2.    Conditionally pathogenic - microbes that live on mucous membranes, skin, in the environment and under normal conditions are not dangerous to health. But with reduced immunity or other factors, they can lead to diseases. This group includes, in particular, streptococcus, E. coli, staphylococcus aureus.

3.    Non-pathogenic - harmless, sometimes beneficial to the human body.
The danger of diseases caused by bacteria is that some of these microorganisms are capable of releasing strong poisons in the process of life - exotoxins that cause severe intoxication and damage to organs and tissues (diphtheria, tetanus, botulism) .
The most common bacterial diseases:
Each of us encounters bacterial diseases more than once in our lives. Bacteria are the most common cause of pneumonia, a complication of viral infections. They also cause sore throats (streptococci) and inflammation of the middle ear (pneumococci). Bacteria are the causative agents of such infections:
DIPHTHERIA is an acute infectious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphteriae (diphtheria bacillus), characterized by fibrinous (diphtheritic or croupous) inflammation in the area of the entrance gate and general intoxication. Pathogenic properties of diphtheria bacillus are associated mainly with the release of exotoxin. 
•    Clinical and morphological forms: diphtheria of the pharynx (oropharynx, tonsils) and diphtheria of the respiratory tract (larynx, trachea, bronchi - croupous fibrinous inflammation, the cause of true croup with rejection of films), other rare forms by localization (diphtheria of wounds, etc.). 
•    Heart damage - early paralysis (toxic cardiomyopathy at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd week of illness),late paralysis (after 2-2.5 months from the onset of the disease as a result of damage to the vagus nerve and intramural ganglia).
SCARLET FEVER is an acute infectious disease with a predominant lesion of the pharynx (catarrhal inflammation with severe hyperemia - “flaming throat”, follicular, lacunar, necrotic tonsillitis) and exanthema, caused by group A β-hemolytic streptococcus. The same streptococci also cause other infections (tonsillitis, streptoderma and etc.). Possible scarlet fever with other entrance gates ("extrabuccal"). Primary scarlet fever complex: lymphangitis and regional lymphadenitis. 
•    Forms of severe scarlet fever: toxic, septic.
•    Late complications ("second period" of scarlet fever): myocarditis, glomerulonephritis.
MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE is an acute infectious disease caused by the Gram-positive diplococcus Neisseria meningitidis. 
•    Forms of meningococcal infection: localized - meningococcal carriage, acute nasopharyngitis (catarrhal inflammation); generalized - meningococcemia (meningococcal sepsis, the main manifestations are endotoxin shock with DIC), meningitis, meningoencephalitis (purulent inflammation), mixed forms. Meningococcemia is characterized by bilateral massive hemorrhage in the adrenal glands with the development of acute adrenal insufficiency (Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome). This syndrome can also occur in other severe infectious diseases in children and debilitated patients.

INTESTINAL INFECTIONS. There are diseases accompanied by bacteremia (typhoid fever, salmonellosis), and "local" infections, the pathogens of which do not go beyond the intestines (shigellosis/dysentery, cholera, amoebiasis).
BACTERIAL DYSENTERY (SHIGELLOSIS) is an acute intestinal infection caused by 4 types of shigella and manifested by colitis with diarrhea, tenesmus, abdominal pain, and in case of severe course - bloody diarrhea, fever and severe intoxication. 
COLITIS: can be catarrhal, fibrinous (diphtheritic), ulcerative. The outcome is complete healing or scarring. In children, a follicular-ulcerative variant of colitis is isolated.
•    Complications: intestinal - perforation of ulcers, peritonitis, intestinal phlegmon, intestinal bleeding, cicatricial stenosis of the intestine; extraintestinal - bronchopneumonia, pyelonephritis, arthritis, pylephlebitic liver abscesses. In chronic course, the development of cachexia and amyloidosis is possible.
TYPHOID FEVER is an acute intestinal infectious disease caused by Salmonella typhi and characterized by a cyclic course with phase change, granulomatous inflammation in the lymphoid apparatus of the intestine (mainly small), intoxication, hepato- and splenomegaly. Local changes develop in the terminal ileum (ileotif), sometimes in the large intestine (colotif), but more often both the small and large intestine (ileocolotyphos) are affected. 
•    Stages of ileotyphoid (each lasting about 1 week): cerebri-like swelling of grouped lymphoid follicles (Peyer's patches), necrosis, ulceration (dirty ulcer stage), clear ulcers, and healing. 

•    General changes(due to bacteremia): typhoid exanthema on the skin of the trunk and abdomen, Duguet's tonsillitis (swelling of the tonsils), typhoid granulomas in the spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow, lungs. 

•    Complications: intestinal - bleeding, perforation of ulcers, peritonitis; extraintestinal - bronchopneumonia (superinfection, more often caused by pneumococcus and staphylococcus aureus), purulent perichondritis of the larynx, waxy necrosis of the rectus abdominis muscles, purulent osteomyelitis and intramuscular abscesses, sepsis.

SALMONELLOSIS combines up to half of all intestinal infections, affects the small intestine (enteritis), manifestations are associated with endotoxin and endotoxemia. 
•    Forms of salmonellosis: gastrointestinal and generalized. 

•    Complications: infectious-toxic shock, acute renal failure.
CHOLERA is a quarantine infection (pathogens - Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio eltor), an acute disease with a primary lesion of the stomach and small intestine, characterized by a general severe condition and dehydration.
•    Clinical and morphological stages: cholera enteritis, cholera gastroenteritis, cholera algid with a picture of exsicosis (dehydration). 

•    Complications: specific - cholera typhoid (diphtheritic colitis due to the addition of a secondary infection), productive intracapillary glomerulonephritis, chlorhydropenic uremia (necrotizing nephrosis with cortical necrosis); nonspecific - accession of a secondary infection, pneumonia, abscesses, phlegmon, sepsis.

SEPSIS is a severe acyclic generalized infectious process characterized by severe systemic manifestations (systemic inflammatory response syndrome - SIRS). More often it is a complication of a severe infection of various localization, less often - an independent nosological form.
•    Generalized infections caused by viruses, rickketsia, chlamydia and mycoplasmas, it is not accepted to refer to sepsis. Sepsis caused by gram-positive flora usually proceeds according to the type of septicopyemia, the main morphological criterion for the generalization of infection are metastatic purulent foci. The disease caused by gram-negative flora often proceeds according to the type of bacterial (endotoxin) shock, the main morphological criterion for the generalization of infection is DIC and other signs of shock.

Bacterial diseases are very difficult to tolerate and require treatment under medical supervision. Without medical attention, many of them can be fatal.