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“The body aches related to an infection such as pharyngitis (sore throat) or flu are related to the immune system’s response to the infection,” says Stephen Parodi, M.D., infectious disease ...
In immunology, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is an inflammatory state affecting the whole body. [1] It is the body's response to an infectious or noninfectious insult . Although the definition of SIRS refers to it as an "inflammatory" response, it actually has pro- and anti-inflammatory components.
Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with body temperature exceeding the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point in the hypothalamus.
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. [4] [7] This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. [8] Common signs and symptoms include fever, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, and confusion. [1]
Here, the immune system adapts its response during an infection to improve its recognition of the pathogen. This improved response is then retained after the pathogen has been eliminated, in the form of an immunological memory, and allows the adaptive immune system to mount faster and stronger attacks each time this pathogen is encountered. [4] [5]
Signs and symptoms are also applied to physiological states outside the context of disease, as for example when referring to the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, or the symptoms of dehydration. Sometimes a disease may be present without showing any signs or symptoms when it is known as being asymptomatic . [ 13 ]
For example, an infection due to a burn or penetrating trauma (the root cause) is a secondary infection. Primary pathogens often cause primary infection and often cause secondary infection. Usually, opportunistic infections are viewed as secondary infections (because immunodeficiency or injury was the predisposing factor). [60]
The symptoms are mostly due to the body's immune response to the infection rather than to tissue destruction by the viruses themselves. [15] The symptoms of influenza are similar to those of a cold, although usually more severe and less likely to include a runny nose. [6] [16] There is no vaccine for the common cold. [3]