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antioxidant

(Encyclopedia)antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antio...

diphtheria

(Encyclopedia)diphtheria dĭfthērˈēə [key], acute contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Klebs-Loffler bacillus) bacteria that have been infected by a bacteriophage. It begins as a soreness o...

emphysema

(Encyclopedia)emphysema ĕmfĭsēˈmə [key], pathological or physiological enlargement or overdistention of the air sacs of the lungs. A major cause of pulmonary insufficiency in chronic cigarette smokers, emphyse...

serum sickness

(Encyclopedia)serum sickness, hypersensitive response that occurs after injection of a large amount of foreign protein. The condition is named for the serum taken from horses or other animals immunized against a pa...

virology

(Encyclopedia)virology, study of viruses and their role in disease. Many viruses, such as animal RNA viruses and viruses that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages, have become useful laboratory tools in genetic studi...

catecholamine

(Encyclopedia)catecholamine kătˌəkôlˈəmēn [key], any of several compounds occurring naturally in the body that serve as hormones or as neurotransmitters in the sympathetic nervous system. The catecholamines ...

West Nile virus

(Encyclopedia)West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that ca...

fungal infection

(Encyclopedia)fungal infection, infection caused by a fungus (see Fungi), some affecting animals, others plants. Serious damage is done to crops each year by fungal infections of plants such as smuts, rusts, ergo...

mange

(Encyclopedia)mange mānj [key], contagious skin disease of domestic and wild animals. The several types of mange, including follicular and sarcoptic mange, are caused by various minute parasitic mites that burrow ...

erysipelas

(Encyclopedia)erysipelas ĕrəsĭpˈələs [key], acute infection of the skin characterized by a sharply demarcated, shiny red swelling, accompanied by high fever and a feeling of general illness. The causative age...