Medications

Can over-the-counter cold medicine treat COVID-19?

Research by Cardiff University shows that over-the-counter cold and flu treatments are safe and effective for managing mild COVID-19 symptoms at home and could help alleviate the burden on hospitals during high incidence ...

Medical research

Newborn piglets serve as a model for studying influenza

Although prevention and treatment strategies are available for influenza, they are not sufficient for vulnerable populations such as young children and newborns. In a new study published in Virology, a multidisciplinary team ...

Health

How to check your home for bedbugs

Nothing can spoil a vacation's sweet afterglow more than discovering that some unwelcome hitchhikers have accompanied you home.

page 1 from 40

Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host's resources to multiply, usually at the expense of the host. The infecting organism, or pathogen, interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss of an infected limb, and even death. The host's response to infection is inflammation. Colloquially, a pathogen is usually considered a microscopic organism though the definition is broader, including parasites, fungi, viruses, prions, and viroids. A symbiosis between parasite and host, whereby the relationship is beneficial for the former but detrimental to the latter, is characterised as parasitism. The branch of medicine that focuses on infections and pathogens is infectious disease. "When infection attacks the body, anti-infective drugs can help turn the tide of battle. Four types of anti-infective drugs exist: antibacterial, antiviral, antitubercular, and antifungal. A secondary infection is an infection that occurs during or following treatment of another already existing primary infection.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA