In 1890, the renowned German physician and bacteriologist, Robert Koch, introduced a set of criteria to determine if a specific bacterium causes a particular disease. These guidelines were crucial in providing much-needed scientific clarity to a previously disorganized field. Koch's postulates are as follows:1. The bacterium must be found in every instance of the disease.2. The bacterium must be isolated from the diseased host and cultivated in a pure culture.3. The disease must be replicated when the pure culture is introduced into a healthy, susceptible host.4. The bacterium must be recoverable from the newly infected host.However, Koch's postulates have certain limitations and may not always be definitive. They might not apply if:- The bacterium in question cannot be cultured in the lab.- There is no animal model available for infection with that specific bacterium.- A typically harmless bacterium can cause disease if it acquires additional harmful traits, enters deep tissues through injury, surgery, or intravenous lines, or infects an immunocompromised patient.Moreover, not everyone infected with a bacterium may exhibit symptoms, as subclinical infections are often more prevalent than obvious clinical ones. Despite these limitations, Koch's postulates remain a valuable standard for assessing whether a causal link exists between a bacterium (or any microorganism) and a disease.
