Terminology of ID Flashcards
Person or animal that harbors the infectious agent/disease and can transmit it to others but does not demonstrate signs of the disease. [COVID-19]
Carrier
Exposure to a source of an infection; a person who has been exposed. Contact does not imply infection; it implies possibility of infection [STI’s]
Contact
Capable of being transmitted from person to person by contact or proximity. Does not need or utilize a vector. [Tuberculosis]
Contagious
An organism that harbors a parasitic, mutualistic, or comemensalist guest. The host is the house & the parasite is the freeloader. [Human]
Host
An organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host. Three main classes of human parasites that protozoa, helminths, and ectoparasites. [scabies mite]
Parasite
Inbiology, apathogen(Greek:pathos”suffering”, and genēs”producer of”). In ID, an infectious agent or organism that can producedisease.
Pathogen
Invasion of the body tissues of a host by an infectious agent, regardless if it causes disease or not. [Ebola or Influenza]
Infection
A pathway into the host that gives an agent access to tissue that will allow it to multiply or act. [Respiratory tract, open wound, etc.]
Portal of entry
A populationof organisms or the specific environment in which an infectious pathogennaturally lives and reproduces; usually a livinghostof a certain species. [Reservoir is a living creature – ex: Anthrax & herbivores]
Reservoir
A pathogen that is transmissible from non-human animals (typically vertebrates) to humans. [Swine Flu, bird flu, turtle flu]
Zoonosis
An increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area. [U.S.]
Epidemic
Carries the same definition of epidemic but is often used for a more limited geographic area. [Mississippi]
Outbreak
The constant presence of an agent or health condition within a given geographic area or population [Malaria in sub-Saharan Africa]
Endemic
An epidemic occurring over a widespread area (multiple countries or continents) and usually affecting a substantial proportion of the population.
Pandemic
Any of a group of viruses that are transmitted between hosts by mosquitoes, ticks, and other arthropods. [Malaria, Dengue WNV, Lyme, RMSF]
Arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus)