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The infectious period can start before, during or after the onset of symptoms, and it may stop before or after the symptoms stop showing. It is also known in the literature by a variety of synonymous terms such as the infective period, the period of infectiousness, communicability period, the period of communicability, contagious period, the ...
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to concepts related to infectious diseases in humans.. Infection – transmission, entry/invasion after evading/overcoming defense, establishment, and replication of disease-causing microscopic organisms (pathogens) inside a host organism, and the reaction of host tissues to them and to the toxins they produce.
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. [1] An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection.
In a typical infectious disease, the incubation period signifies the period taken by the multiplying organism to reach a threshold necessary to produce symptoms in the host. While latent or latency period may be synonymous, a distinction is sometimes made whereby the latent period is defined as the time from infection to infectiousness.
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]
Pathogenic bacteria are specially adapted and endowed with mechanisms for overcoming the normal body defences, and can invade parts of the body, such as the blood, where bacteria are not normally found. Some pathogens invade only the surface epithelium, skin or mucous membrane, but many travel more deeply, spreading through the tissues and ...
Various factors affect the ability of a pathogen to infect a particular cell, including: the structure of the cell's surface receptors; the availability of transcription factors that can identify pathogenic DNA or RNA; the ability of the cells and tissue to support viral or bacterial replication; and the presence of physical or chemical ...
A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ. [1] The term pathogen came into use in the 1880s. [2] [3] Typically, the term pathogen is used to describe an infectious microorganism or agent, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan, prion, viroid, or fungus.