Innocent cholera bacilli or Koch postulates

 Dr Robert Koch who is regarded as the founder of modern bacteriology; nevertheless, like Louis Pasteur, Dr Koch is falsely venerated as a hero. It is widely claimed that Dr Koch provided the necessary ‘proof’ that certain diseases were caused by certain bacteria; but this is a mistaken claim, as will be demonstrated.

In order for him to test his theory that bacteria were the causes of disease, Dr Koch developed four Postulates that continue to bear his name. The first Postulate, which is the most crucial for determining a causal agent of disease, comprises two criteria, the first of which is that the microbe alleged to cause a specific disease must be found in all people suffering from that disease. The second criterion is that the microbe should not be found in anyone who does not have the disease it is claimed to cause. The logic of this first postulate is undeniable; any exception to either criterion means that the ‘microbe’ could not be the causal agent of the disease in question. This logic is recognised by Dr Peter Duesberg, who states in his book entitled Inventing the AIDS Virus that,

“A single exception would be enough to pronounce the microbe innocent of creating that disease.”

However, investigations of bacteria and their relationship to different diseases reveal the existence of exceptions to both criteria of Koch’s first postulate; bacteria have been found in the bodies of people who do not have the disease they are alleged to cause, and the relevant bacteria have not been found in all people with the disease they are alleged to cause. The significance of these exceptions is that they utterly refute the basic assumption that bacteria cause disease. These exceptions should have persuaded scientists like Dr Koch to reassess the ‘germ theory’, if not completely abandon it.

There was, and still is, a great reluctance to abandon or even reassess the theory; instead, efforts have been made to solve the anomalies raised by these exceptions by making adaptations to the theory. But these adaptations do not resolve the underlying anomalies; on the contrary, they introduce additional anomalies. The main problem is that the adapted theory retains the underlying assumption that ‘bacteria’ are pathogens; but it is precisely this assumption that is fundamentally flawed.

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Another example that demonstrates the fallacy of the claim that specific bacteria cause specific diseases, or any disease at all, is that of Dr Max Pettenkofer MD, who Eleanor McBean reports to have swallowed, on more than one occasion, the contents of a glass containing millions of cholera bacilli in full view of a class of his students; yet it is reliably reported that Dr Pettenkofer failed to succumb to the disease.

Although it has been suggested by certain sections of the scientific community that Koch’s postulates are flawed, out-of-date and need to be revised, such a suggestion ignores the central point, which is that allegedly ‘pathogenic’ bacteria can be found in abundance in and on the bodies of healthy people. These bacteria cannot therefore be regarded as pathogens merely on the basis that they are sometimes found in some people who are ill. Dr Peter Duesberg states the logical conclusion succinctly,

“Simply finding a microbe is not enough to convict it of causing a disease.”

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