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Active immunization -The act of artificially stimulating
the body to develop antibodies against infectious disease by the
administration of vaccines or toxoids.
Adenopathy - Swelling or morbid enlargement of
the lymph nodes.
Analgesic - 1. A compound capable of producing
analgesia, i.e., one that relieves pain by altering perception
of nociceptive stimuli without producing anesthesia or loss of
consciousness. 2. Characterized by reduced response to painful
stimuli.
Anticonvulsant - An agent which prevents or arrests
seizures.
Antitoxin - An antibody formed in response to and
capable of neutralizing a biological poison.; an animal serum
containing antitoxins.
Arthralgia - Severe pain in a joint, especially
one not inflammatory in character.
AST - Abbreviation for aspartate aminotransferase,
a liver enzyme.
Ataxia - An inability to coordinate muscle activity
during voluntary movement, so that smooth movements occur. Most
often due to disorders of the cerebellum or the posterior columns
of the spinal cord; may involve the limbs, head, or trunk.
Atelectasis - Absence of gas from a part or the
whole of the lungs, due to failure of expansion or resorption
of gas from the alveoli.
Bilirubin - A red bile pigment formed from hemoglobin
during normal and abnormal destruction of erythrocytes. Excess
bilirubin is associated with jaundice.
Blood agar - A mixture of blood and nutrient agar,
used for the cultivation of many medically important microorganisms.
Bronchitis - Inflammation of the mucous membrane
of the bronchial tubes.
Brucella - A genus of encapsulated, nonmotile bacteria
(family Brucellaceae) containing short, rod-shaped to coccoid,
Gram-negative cells. These organisms are parasitic, invading all
animal tissues and causing infection of the genital organs, the
mammary gland, and the respiratory and intestinal tracts, and
are pathogenic for man and various species of domestic animals.
They do not produce gas from carbohydrates.
Bubo - Inflammatory swelling of one or more lymph
nodes, usually in the groin; the confluent mass of nodes usually
suppurates and drains pus.
Carbuncle - Deep-seated pyogenic infection of the
skin and subcutaneous tissues, usually arising in several contiguous
hair follicles, with formation of connecting sinuses; often preceded
or accompanied by fever, malaise, and prostration.
Cerebrospinal - Relating to the brain and the spinal
cord.
Chemoprophylaxis - Prevention of disease by the
use of chemicals or drugs.
Cholinergic - Relating to nerve cells or fibers
that employ acetylcholine as their neurotransmitter.
CNS - Abbreviation for central nervous system.
Coagulopathy - A disease affecting the coagulability
of the blood.
Coccobacillus - A short, thick bacterial rod of
the shape of an oval or slightly elongated coccus.
Conjunctiva, pl. conjunctivae - The mucous membrane
investing the anterior surface of the eyeball and the posterior
surface of the lids.
CSF - Abbreviation for cerebrospinal fluid.
Cutaneous - Relating to the skin.
Cyanosis - A dark bluish or purplish coloration
of the skin and mucous membrane due to deficient oxygenation of
the blood, evident when reduced hemoglobin in the blood exceeds
5 g per 100 ml.
Diathesis -The constitutional or inborn state disposing
to a disease, group of diseases, or metabolic or structural anomaly.
Diplopia -The condition in which a single object
is perceived as two objects.
Distal - Situated away from the center of the body,
or from the point of origin; specifically applied to the extremity
or distant part of a limb or organ.
Dysarthria - A disturbance of speech and language
due to emotional stress, to brain injury, or to paralysis, incoordination,
or spasticity of the muscles used for speaking.
Dysphagia, dysphagy - Difficulty in swallowing.
Dysphonia - Altered voice production.
Dyspnea - Shortness of breath, a subjective difficulty
or distress in breathing, usually associated with disease of the
heart or lungs; occurs normally during intense physical exertion
or at high altitude.
Ecchymosis - A purplish patch caused by extravasation
of blood into the skin, differing from petechiae only in size
(larger than 3 mm diameter).
Endotoxemia - Presence in the blood of endotoxins.
Endotracheal intubation - Passage of a tube through
the nose or mouth into the trachea for maintenance of the airway
during anesthesia or for maintenance of an imperiled airway.
Enterotoxin - A cytotoxin specific for the cells
of the intestinal mucosa.
Epistaxis - Profuse bleeding from the nose.
Epizootic - 1. Denoting a temporal pattern of disease
occurrence in an animal population in which the disease occurs
with a frequency clearly in excess of the expected frequency in
that population during a given time interval. 2. An outbreak (epidemic)
of disease in an animal population; often with the implication
that it may also affect human populations.
Erythema - Redness of the skin due to capillary
dilatation.
Erythema multiforme - An acute eruption of macules,
papules, or subdermal vesicles presenting a multiform appearance,
the characteristic lesion being the target or iris lesion over
the dorsal aspect of the hands and forearms; its origin may be
allergic, seasonal, or from drug sensitivity, and the eruption,
although usually self-limited (e.g., multiforme minor), may be
recurrent or may run a severe course, sometimes with fatal termination
(e.g., multiforme major or Stevens-Johnson syndrome).
Fasciculation - Involuntary contractions, or twitchings,
of groups (fasciculi) of muscle fibers, a coarser form of muscular
contraction than fibrillation.Febrile - Denoting or relating to
fever.
Fomite - Objects, such as clothing, towels, and
utensils that possibly harbor a disease agent and are capable
of transmitting it.
Formalin - A 37% aqueous solution of formaldehyde.
Fulminant hepatitis - Severe, rapidly progressive
loss of hepatic function due to viral infection or other cause
of inflammatory destruction of liver tissue.
Generalized vaccinia - Secondary lesions of the
skin following vaccination which may occur in subjects with previously
healthy skin but are more common in the case of traumatized skin,
especially in the case of eczema (eczema vaccinatum). In the latter
instance, generalized vaccinia may result from mere contact with
a vaccinated person. Secondary vaccinial lesions may also occur
following transfer of virus from the vaccination to another site
by means of the fingers (autoinnoculation).
Glanders - A chronic debilitating disease of horses
and other equids, as well as some members of the cat family, caused
by Pseudomonas mallei; it is transmissible to humans. It attacks
the mucous membranes of the nostrils of the horse, producing an
increased and vitiated secretion and discharge of mucus, and enlargement
and induration of the glands of the lower jaw.
Granulocytopenia -Less than the normal number of
granular leukocytes in the blood.
Guarnieri bodies - Intracytoplasmic acidophilic
inclusion body's observed in epithelial cells in variola (smallpox)
and vaccinia infections, and which include aggregations of Paschen
body's or virus particles.
Hemolysis -Alteration, dissolution, or destruction
of red blood cells in such a manner that hemoglobin is liberated
into the medium in which the cells are suspended, e.g., by specific
complement-fixing antibodies, toxins, various chemical agents,
tonicity, alteration of temperature.
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome - Hemolytic anemia and
thrombocytopenia occurring with acute renal failure.
Hemoptysis - The spitting of blood derived from
the lungs or bronchial tubes as a result of pulmonary or bronchial
hemorrhage.
Hepatic - Relating to the liver.
Heterologous - 1. Pertaining to cytologic or histologic
elements occurring where they are not normally found. 2. Derived
from an animal of a different species, as the serum of a horse
is heterologous for a rabbit.
Hyperemia - The presence of an increased amount
of blood in a part or organ.
Hyperesthesia - Abnormal acuteness of sensitivity
to touch, pain, or other sensory stimuli.
Hypotension - Subnormal arterial blood pressure.
Hypovolemia - A decreased amount of blood in the
body.
Hypoxemia - Subnormal oxygenation of arterial blood,
short of anoxia.
Idiopathic - Denoting a disease of unknown cause.
Immunoassay - Detection and assay of substances
by serological (immunological) methods; in most applications the
substance in question serves as antigen, both in antibody production
and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.
In vitro - In an artificial environment, referring
to a process or reaction occurring therein, as in a test tube
or culture media.
Induration - 1. The process of becoming extremely
firm or hard, or having such physical features. 2. A focus or
region of indurated tissue.
Inguinal - Relating to the groin.
Inoculation - Introduction into the body of the
causative organism of a disease.
Leukopenia - The antithesis of leukocytosis; any
situation in which the total number of leukocytes in the circulating
blood is less than normal, the lower limit of which is generally
regarded as 4000-5000 per cu mm.
Lumbosacral - Relating to the lumbar vertebrae
and the sacrum.
Lumen, pl. lumina - The space in the interior of
a tubular structure, such as an artery or the intestine.
Lymphadenopathy - Any disease process affecting
a lymph node or lymph nodes.
Lymphopenia - A reduction, relative or absolute,
in the number of lymphocytes in the circulating blood.
Macula, pl. maculae - 1. A small spot, perceptibly
different in color from the surrounding tissue. 2. A small, discolored
patch or spot on the skin, neither elevated above nor depressed
below the skin's surface.
Mediastinitis - Inflammation of the cellular tissue
of the mediastinum.
Mediastinum - The median partition of the thoracic
cavity, covered by the mediastinal pleura and containing all the
thoracic viscera and structures except the lungs.
Megakaryocyte - A large cell with a polyploid nucleus
that is usually multilobed; megakaryocytes are normally present
in bone marrow, not in the circulating blood, and give rise to
blood platelets.
Melena - Passage of dark-colored, tarry stools,
due to the presence of blood altered by the intestinal juices.
Mucocutaneous - Relating to mucous membrane and
skin; denoting the line of junction of the two at the nasal, oral,
vaginal, and anal orifices.
Myalgia - Muscular pain.
Mydriasis - Dilation of the pupil.
Nephropathia epidemica - A generally benign form
of epidemic hemorrhagic fever reported in Scandinavia.
Neutrophilia - An increase of neutrophilic leukocytes
in blood or tissues; also frequently used synonymously with leukocytosis,
inasmuch as the latter is generally the result of an increased
number of neutrophilic granulocytes in the circulating blood (or
in the tissues, or both).
Nosocomial - Denoting a new disorder (not the patient's
original condition) associated with being treated in a hospital,
such as a hospital-acquired infection.
Oliguria - Scanty urine production.
Oropharynx - The portion of the pharynx that lies
posterior to the mouth; it is continuous above with the nasopharynx
via the pharyngeal isthmus and below with the laryngopharynx.
Osteomyelitis - Inflammation of the bone marrow
and adjacent bone.
Pancytopenia - Pronounced reduction in the number
of erythrocytes, all types of white blood cells, and the blood
platelets in the circulating blood.
Pandemic - Denoting a disease affecting or attacking
the population of an extensive region, country, continent; extensively
epidemic.
Papule - A small, circumscribed, solid elevation
on the skin.
Parasitemia -The presence of parasites in the circulating
blood; used especially with reference to malarial and other protozoan
forms, and microfilariae.
Passive immunity - Providing temporary protection
from disease through the administration of exogenously produced
antibody (i.e., transplacental transmission of antibodies to the
fetus or the injection of immune globulin for specific preventive
purposes).
PCR - see below for polymerase chain reaction.
Pleurisy - Inflammation of the pleura.
Polymerase chain reaction - An in vitro method
for enzymatically synthesizing and amplifying defined sequences
of DNA in molecular biology. Can be used for improving DNA-based
diagnostic procedures for identifying unknown BW agents.
Polymorphonuclear - Having nuclei of varied forms;
denoting a variety of leukocyte.
Polyuria - Excessive excretion of urine.
Presynaptic - Pertaining to the area on the proximal
side of a synaptic cleft.
Pyrogenic - Causing fever.
Retinitis - Inflammation of the retina.
Retrosternal - Posterior to the sternum.
Rhinorrhea - A discharge from the nasal mucous
membrane.
Scarification -The making of a number of superficial
incisions in the skin. It is the technique used to administer
tularemia and smallpox vaccines.
Septic shock - 1. shock associated with sepsis,
usually associated with abdominal and pelvic infection complicating
trauma or operations; 2. shock associated with septicemia caused
by Gram-negative bacteria.
Snorkeloliosis - A high-pitched, noisy respiration,
like the blowing of the wind; a sign of respiratory obstruction,
especially in the trachea or larynx.
Superantigen - An antigen that interacts with the
T cell receptor in a domain outside of the antigen recognition
site. This type of interaction induces the activation of larger
numbers of T cells compared to antigens that are presented in
the antigen recognition site.
Tachycardia - Rapid beating of the heart, conventionally
applied to rates over 100 per minute.
Thrombocytopenia - A condition in which there is
an abnormally small number of platelets in the circulating blood.
Toxoid - A modified bacterial toxin that has been
rendered nontoxic (commonly with formaldehyde) but retains the
ability to stimulate the formation of antitoxins (antibodies)
and thus producing an active immunity. Examples include Botulinum,
tetanus, and diphtheria toxoids.
Urticaria - An eruption of itching wheals, usually
of systemic origin; it may be due to a state of hypersensitivity
to foods or drugs, foci of infection, physical agents (heat, cold,
light, friction), or psychic stimuli.
Vaccine - A suspension of attenuated live or killed
microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, or rickettsiae), or fractions
thereof, administered to induce immunity and thereby prevent infectious
disease.
Variola - Syn: smallpox.
Viremia - The presence of virus in the bloodstream.
Virion - The complete virus particle that is structurally
intact and infectious.
Zoonosis - An infection or infestation shared in
nature by humans and other animals that are the normal or usual
host; a disease of humans acquired from an animal source.
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