Susceptibility to Infection

The ability of a person or animal to respond to the introduction of a certain infectious agent into the body by developing a disease or carriage of the pathogen is called susceptibility to infection.

Susceptibility to infectious diseases depends on many factors, including the state of the immune system, the presence of antibodies, general health and age.

People with weakened immune systems, such as the elderly or those with chronic illnesses, are much more susceptible to infections. Young children are also highly susceptible due to an immature immune system.

Susceptibility to a specific pathogen may decrease after illness or vaccination due to the production of specific antibodies. However, over time, immunity weakens and susceptibility is restored.

Thus, susceptibility to infections is an important indicator that determines the risk of disease when encountering pathogens. It can be reduced through vaccination, a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of immunodeficiency conditions.

Susceptibility to infection

**Susceptibility to disease** is the ability of a person, animal or organism to respond to the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into it and the development of the infectious process. The cause of infection is not necessarily a ready-made “infectious agent”; it is enough just for “single” microbes, their offspring or fragments to enter the body. The peculiarity of a viral infection is that the pathogen carries out its destructive and destructive effect through penetration inside the cell, parasitism in its body and destruction of cellular structures. However, not all “foreign agents” cause the development of diseases during infection.