It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance.
[1] The word comes from Ancient Greek πάθος (pathos) 'suffering, disease' and γένεσις (genesis) 'creation'.
Types of pathogenesis include microbial infection, inflammation, malignancy and tissue breakdown.
For example, certain cancers arise from dysfunction of the immune system (skin tumors and lymphoma after a renal transplant, which requires immunosuppression), Streptococcus pneumoniae is spread through contact with respiratory secretions, such as saliva, mucus, or cough droplets from an infected person and colonizes the upper respiratory tract and begins to multiply.
[7] Thus, the molecular pathological epidemiology paradigm can advance the area of causal inference.