Disease Vocab

• Virus: a particle consisting of DNA enclosed in a protein coat that must inject its DNA into a living cell to reproduce
• Scientists consider viruses to be not alive
• Infectious disease: any disease caused by a pathogen, a microbe that requires a living cell to reproduce
• Microbe: any organism too small to be seen with the naked eye
• Parasite: an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients from the host
• Pathogen: a microbe that causes disease in an organism
• Prokaryote: a unicellular organism without a distinct nucleus enclosed by a membrane or 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 that builds immunity against a specific disease, usually employing a weakened form of the disease agent to stimulate antibody production
• Vector: an animal that carries and transmits a disease
• Antibiotic: a group of medicines used to inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause disease
• Antibody: a chemical substance made by the body to destroy pathogens
• Antimicrobial: a substance used to kill microbes before they enter the body
• Bacteria: microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be beneficial or harmful (e.g., in decomposition)
• Carrier: a person with a disease that they can pass on to other organisms
• Disease: any change that disrupts the normal functions of one or more body systems
• Epidemic: a disease that spreads across a large population of people, normally in a regional area
• Eukaryote: an organism whose cells contain a nucleus surrounded by a membrane
• Fungi: members of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms