Virulence factors help bacteria to do the following;
(1) invade the host,
(2) cause disease,
(3) evade host defenses.
Types of virulence factors:
Adherence Factors: Most pathogenic bacteria colonize mucosal sites by using pili (fimbriae) to adhere to cells.
Invasion Factors: the Surface components that allow the bacterium to invade host cells can be encoded on plasmids, but more often are on the chromosome.
The virulence factors of a pathogenic microorganism allow it to more easily invade the tissues of an organism or of a living being. In addition, it gives them greater survival power in extreme environments and unfavorable conditions for their metabolism.
Explanation:
An example of a virulence factor is the presence of flagella or capsules in bacteria, the capsules allow it to sustain life at extreme temperatures and conditions, and the flagella facilitate their mobilization. On the other hand, there are also some microorganisms that have toxins (endo or exotoxins) that work as extractors of human immunity or as destroyers of tissues. In order to achieve its greatest proliferation and survival within a living organism.
Virulence factors are also considered today as those resistance that microorganisms acquire to certain drugs or antiseptics, etc.
