Related article: Microbes in the human body
A variety of bacteria, fungi, and viruses are commonly described as co-infections. These include: Bartonella, cytomegalovirus, Borellia, Babesia, Candida, Ehrlicha, Epstein-Barr virus, and Rickettsia. In the absence of a robust immune response, these microbes along with others proliferate inside the human body.
Because the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. activates the innate immune responseThe body's first line of defense against intracellular and other pathogens. According to the Marshall Pathogenesis the innate immune system becomes disabled as patients develop chronic disease., a system that is responsive to a range of microbes, there is a good chance the MP targets these infections. Patients on the MP experience an immunopathological reactionA temporary increase in disease symptoms experiences by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed. in eliminating any microbes including those labelled as co-infections.
Related article: Antifungal agents
Candida albicans is a fungus (a form of yeast) that plays a role in opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. C. albicans biofilms A structured community of microorganisms encapsulated within a self-developed protective matrix and living together. readily form on the surface of implantable medical devices. Systemic fungal infections (fungemias) have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients traditionally labelled as immunocompromised, e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation. (According to the Marshall Pathogenesis, patients suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases are likewise immunocompromised.)
Extrapolating to humans, these findings suggest that coconut oil could become the first dietary intervention to reduce C. albicans GI colonization. Dietary coconut oil also altered the metabolic program of colonizing C. albicans cells.
As the section devoted to antimicrobial peptidesBody’s naturally produced broad-spectrum antibacterials which target pathogens. (AmPs) explains, the AmP cathelicidin Family of antimicrobial peptides found primarily in immune cells and transcribed by the Vitamin D Receptor. is a component of the innate immune system, and is responsive to fungi.1)
Antifungal agents such as fluconazole (Diflucan) are sometimes prescribed to treat fungal infections. While some patients have reported feeling better after taking antifungal agents, antifungals interfere with immune function.
At least according to one study, patients are a poor judge of whether they have fungal infections.
Patient symptom scores were a poor predictor of yeast infections based on yeast culture results. … Self-reported symptoms are not reliable for diagnosis.
Susan Hoffstetter et al. 2)
Related articles: Koch's postulates, Successive infection and variability in disease
In parasitology, a coinfection is defined as the simultaneous infection of a host by multiple pathogens with one pathogen being the primary disease-causing agent. The term is something of a legacy of Koch's postulatesCentury-old criteria designed to establish a causal relationship between a causative microbe and a disease. Koch's belief that only one pathogen causes one disease has now been called into question as multiple postulates are increasingly considered out of date. in which infectious diseases are only caused by a single species of microbe.
According to the Marshall Pathogenesis, however, pointing to a single microbe as being the cause of disease and the rest as largely ancillary does not adequately represent the complexity of successive infectionAn infectious cascade of pathogens in which initial infectious agents slow the immune response and make it easier for subsequent infections to proliferate. and the role that many microbes, combined, may have in causing disease. Even Epstein-Barr virus, which is the minds of many a classical co-infection, has been show to act directly on the body's nuclear receptorsIntracellular receptor proteins that bind to hydrophobic signal molecules (such as steroid and thyroid hormones) or intracellular metabolites and are thus activated to bind to specific DNA sequences which affect transcription. including the VDRThe Vitamin D Receptor. A nuclear receptor located throughout the body that plays a key role in the innate immune response..3) A 2011 paper further showed that EBV not only down-regulates expression of the VDR protein itself, but also acts to block transcription by the VDR.4)
Related article: Innate immune response and Th1 inflammation
I used to think that herpes erupted when immunity was down but I have now witnessed too many shingles outbreaks in Marshall Protocol patients as they recovered. Called IRIS or Immune Recovery Inflammatory Syndrome, this is also seen in AIDS patients as their immunity recovers.
Greg Blaney, M.D.
Using the VDR agonistA substance such as olmesartan (Benicar) or 1,25-D which activates the Vitamin D Receptor and transcribes the genes necessary for a proper innate immune response., olmesartanMedication taken regularly by patients on the Marshall Protocol for its ability to activate the Vitamin D Receptor. Also known by the trade name Benicar. , the MP activates the innate immune response. The innate immune response is effective against a range of microbes including “co-infections.” One important component of the innate immune response is the antimicrobial peptides.
The antimicrobial peptides play a role in mitigating the virulence of the virome and other non-bacterial infectious agents. In addition to its antibacterial activity, alpha-defensin human neutrophil peptide-1 inhibits HIV and influenza virus entry into target cells.5) It diminishes HIV replication and can inactivate cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, vesicular stomatitis virus and adenovirus.6) In addition to killing both gram positive and gram-negative bacteria, human beta-defensins HBD-1, HDB-2, and HBD-3 have also been shown to kill the opportunistic yeast species Candida albicans.7) Cathelicidin also possesses antiviral and antifungal activity.8) 9)
In other words, there is a reason why this group of proteins are named antimicrobial peptides rather than antibacterial peptides.
Some evidence has emerged that using a therapy to target a given infection aids the body in its ability to eliminate otherwise unrelated pathogens. For example, a 2011 Science study gave two groups of mice an injection of poliovirus, a gut virus. One group was treated with antibiotics, thus depleting their intestinal microbiome. This group was less susceptible to poliovirus disease and supported minimal viral replication in the intestine. Further, the pathogenesis of reovirus, an unrelated gut virus, was also more severe in the presence of intestinal microbes.10)