Bacteria as a cause

Bacteria are less often the cause of a cold. They are more likely to trigger a superinfection at the bottom of a viral cold. The process of a superinfection can look something like this: first, a virus triggers a cold, which is fought by the immune system.

In people with an immune deficiency or, in rare cases, in otherwise healthy people, a simple cold can be followed by a second infection with a bacterium. This is then called superinfection. The infection with the bacterium then affects specific organs.

For example, an infection in the lungs can lead to pneumonia or an ear infection in the middle ear. Of course, a bacterium can also trigger a normal cold. However, as described above, this is much less common than a viral cold.

Therefore, doctors should be very cautious when prescribing antibiotics for colds, since most of them are caused by viruses and are ineffective against these antibiotics. Only if a superinfection is suspected and additional symptoms are added to the typical cold symptoms, the use of an antibiotic can be useful. Would you like to know more about an infection by bacteria?streptococci are bacteria that are divided into the groups A-streptococci and B-streptococci according to how they break down the red blood pigment haemoglobin.

A-streptococci include the pneumococci (Streptococcus pneumoniae) and the Viridans streptococci. Streptococci normally do not primarily cause a cold, but more specific diseases of individual organs, which can, however, be favored by a viral cold. The pneumococci are treated in more detail in the following section.

Viridans streptococci occur in the oral cavity. They colonize dental plaques and can cause caries. That they cause a cold is rather untypical.

Staphylococci are bacteria that can cause an infection in any organ system. That staphylococci are the cause of a cold is very untypical. They are more likely to trigger infections of the skin or internal organs, such as endocarditis, i.e. an inflammation of the inner skin of the heart.

Similar to streptococci, staphylococci can also cause pneumonia, which can occur as a complication of a normal virus-induced cold. Pneumococci can cause pneumonia, middle ear infection, inflammation of the nasal mucosa or meningitis. Such an infection with pneumococci is favored when the immune system is already weakened by a viral cold. This is especially the case in people who have a weakened immune system for various reasons. In children, pneumococci can cause acute angina tonsillaris, i.e. an inflammation of the palatine tonsils.However, this is a much more acute illness than a cold.