Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Their growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause disease. "Germ" refers not just to bacteria but to any type of microorganism, such as protists or fungi, or other pathogens, including parasites, viruses, prions, or viroids. [1] Diseases caused by pathogens are called infectious diseases. Even when a pathogen is the principal cause of ...
Gamma phage, an example of virus particles (visualised by electron microscopy) Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses.It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their interaction with host organism physiology and immunity, the diseases they ...
A viral infection does not always cause disease. A viral infection simply involves viral replication in the host, but disease is the damage caused by viral multiplication. [5] An individual who has a viral infection but does not display disease symptoms is known as a carrier. [17] Mechanisms by which viruses cause damage and disease to host cells
Often simply called an antiviral. A class of antimicrobial medication used specifically for treating diseases caused by viral infections rather than ones caused by bacteria or other infectious agents. Unlike most antibiotics, antivirals typically do not destroy their target viruses but instead inhibit their development. They are distinct from virucides. assembly The construction of the virus ...
The term "neurovirulent" is used for viruses such as rabies and herpes simplex which can invade the nervous system and cause disease there. [citation needed] Extensively studied model organisms of virulent viruses include virus T4 and other T-even bacteriophages which infect Escherichia coli and a number of related bacteria. [citation needed]
Koch's postulates are used to establish causal relationships between microbial pathogens and diseases. Whereas meningitis can be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens, cholera is only caused by some strains of Vibrio cholerae. Additionally, some pathogens may only cause disease in hosts with an immunodeficiency.
Viruses cause different diseases depending on the types of cell that they infect. Some viruses can cause lifelong or chronic infections where the viruses continue to reproduce in the body despite the host's defence mechanisms. [52] This is common in hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections.
[1] [2] [3] Viruses in the human body may infect both human cells and other microbes such as bacteria (as with bacteriophages). [4] Some viruses cause disease, while others may be asymptomatic. Certain viruses are also integrated into the human genome as proviruses or endogenous viral elements. [1]