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Antimicrobial. An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms ( microbicide) or stops their growth ( bacteriostatic agent ). [ 1] Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals are used against fungi.
Contact tracing attempts to find all contacts of a confirmed case, in order to test or monitor them for infection. The goal is to stop the spread of a disease by finding and isolating cases. In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying people who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent ...
Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms.
Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, [2] believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a disease in healthy people can cure similar symptoms in sick people; this doctrine is called similia similibus curentur, or "like cures like". [3] Homeopathic preparations are termed remedies and are made using homeopathic dilution.
An infectious disease agent can be transmitted in two ways: as horizontal disease agent transmission from one individual to another in the same generation (peers in the same age group) [3] by either direct contact (licking, touching, biting), or indirect contact through air – cough or sneeze (vectors or fomites that allow the transmission of the agent causing the disease without physical ...
It is often preferred because it causes far fewer allergic reactions than alternative disinfectants. Also used in the food packaging industry to disinfect foil containers. A 3% solution is also used as an antiseptic. Hydrogen peroxide vapor is used as a medical sterilant and as room disinfectant. Hydrogen peroxide has the advantage that it ...
Germ theory of disease. Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera. The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without ...
Airborne diseases can be transmitted from one individual to another through the air. The pathogens transmitted may be any kind of microbe, and they may be spread in aerosols, dust or droplets. The aerosols might be generated from sources of infection such as the bodily secretions of an infected individual, or biological wastes.