Diseases Vocab.
Antibiotic: a group of medicines used to kill or slow the growth of bacteria that cause disease.
Antibody: a chemical substance made by the body to help destroy an invading pathogen.
Antimicrobial: a substance that is designed to kill microbes before they enter the body.
Bacteria: microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be dangerous (cause infection) or beneficial (such as in fermentation and in decomposition).
Carrier: a person with a disease that they can pass on to other organisms.
Disease: any change that disrupts the normal function of one or more body systems.
Epidemic: a disease that spreads across a large population of people, normally in a regional area.
Eukaryotic: an organism whose cells contain a nucleus surrounded by a membrane
Fungi: any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.
Infectious disease: any disease that is caused by a pathogen.
Microbe: any organism or near life form that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Noninfectious disease: a disease that cannot be spread from one organism to another.
Pandemic: an epidemic that spreads more globally affecting a large geographical area.
Parasite: an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense.
Pathogen: a microbe that causes disease in an organism.
Prokaryotic: a microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles
Prevention: the action of stopping something from happening or arising
Treatment: medical care given to a patient for an illness or injury
Unicellular: consisting of a single cell
Vaccine: a preventive shot to yield immunity against a specific disease, usually employing a form of the disease agent in a weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production.
Vector: an animal that carries and transmits a disease.
Virus: a particle consisting of DNA encased in a protein coat that must inject its DNA into a living cell in order to reproduce. A microbe that consists of nucleic acid enclosed within a protein shell that requires a living cell in order to reproduce. Scientists consider the virus to be not alive.