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Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. [1] Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. [1] Viruses are the most common cause of pneumonia in children, while in adults bacteria are a more common cause. [2]
Viral pathogenesis is the study of the process and mechanisms by which viruses cause diseases in their target hosts, often at the cellular or molecular level. It is a specialized field of study in virology. [1] Pathogenesis is a qualitative description of the process by which an initial infection causes disease. [2]
Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, the group of viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal.
Neither of these colonizations are considered infections. The difference between an infection and a colonization is often only a matter of circumstance. Non-pathogenic organisms can become pathogenic given specific conditions, and even the most virulent organism requires certain circumstances to cause a compromising infection.
On average a coronavirus particle has 74 surface spikes. [53] Each spike is about 20 nm long and is composed of a trimer of the S protein. The S protein is in turn composed of an S1 and S2 subunit. The homotrimeric S protein is a class I fusion protein which mediates the receptor binding and membrane fusion between the virus and host cell. The ...
Pneumonia fills the lung's alveoli with fluid, hindering oxygenation. The alveolus on the left is normal, whereas the one on the right is full of fluid from pneumonia. Pneumonia frequently starts as an upper respiratory tract infection that moves into the lower respiratory tract. [55] It is a type of pneumonitis (lung inflammation). [56]
Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host. In most cases, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. [1] The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to cause disease—is determined by its virulence factors.
Reversion or allelic replacement of the mutated gene should lead to restoration of pathogenicity." To apply the molecular Koch's postulates to human diseases, researchers must identify which microbial genes are potentially responsible for symptoms of pathogenicity, often by sequencing the full genome to compare which nucleotides are homologous ...