Microbes are what we call the microscopic organism that inhabit this earth, some are dangerous, opportunist villains but most of them are a credit to our body and are similar to an organ.

We owe our existence to microbes which cause benefits for our crowed human body. We will now start our fact file for the common microbial factions. The viruses, bacteria, protozoa and the Rickettsia.

Viruses are the smallest known microbes (1/1,000,000mm). They invade living organisms and infect their tissues and cells. They take over the cell with viral DNA (double stranded) or RNA (single stranded). They then begin to replicate and take over the cell and henceforth killing it or the virus continues production to invade more cells..

The virus then moves on. Antibodies are useless and incapable of fighting this parasitic menace. Examples of viruses are chicken pox, German measles and polio.
DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid
RNA = ribonucleic acid.

Bacteria are larger than viruses (1/1000mm). They are living cells and some are friendly and we should be happy to give them homes, but others are villains of the microscopic world. These are the ones that cause illnesses. They grow and reproduce very quickly. They reproduce better in warm, not blazing hot, conditions. Extremely hot temperatures kill them but 5˚C or below temperatures keep them from reproducing.

The harmful ones attack your tissues or use poison. However, there is hope, unlike viruses, bacteria are defeated by antibodies. Some bacteria defend our bodies from invading bacteria. So inside us are microscopic wars, and I bet you thought only your immune system helped defend your body.   

Bacteria come in different shapes, for example, they come in coccus (spherical), bacillus (rod), spiralla (corkscrew) and vibrio (comma) shapes.

Examples of bacterial diseases are food poisoning, tetanus and sore throats.

Protozoa are relatively large in comparison to other pathogens. They are approximately ½ mm. Protozoa look like a colourless jelly and look similar to body cells so they are exceptionally hard to find. An example of a protozoa would be the single-celled amoeba.

Protozoa prefer to live in the gut and the blood stream. In these places they unleash their deadly cargo, toxins. They can cause disease such as malaria. They are very aggressive.