patogeeniseen

Patogeeninen is a Finnish adjective used in biology to describe agents capable of causing disease in a host. The term is applied to organisms or biological agents that can initiate pathological processes leading to illness in humans, animals, or plants. In scientific contexts, patogeeninen characterizes pathogens or pathogenic strains as opposed to non-pathogenic organisms.

Pathogenicity refers to the ability of an agent to cause disease, while virulence denotes the degree of harm it can cause. Whether an agent is patogeeninen depends on both its own traits and host factors such as immune status, age, and microbiome, as well as environmental conditions and the dose and route of exposure. Many organisms are opportunistic pathogens: they are not disease-causing in healthy hosts but can cause illness when immunity is compromised or when a wound or other risk factor is present.

Pathogenic agents include bacteria (for example Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus), viruses (influenza, SARS-CoV-2), fungi (Candida albicans), and parasites (Plasmodium species). Understanding patogeeninen is important for disease prevention and control, informing vaccination strategies, antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention, and outbreak investigation.