Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

51 results found

Calmette, Léon Charles Albert

(Encyclopedia)Calmette, Léon Charles Albert lāôNˈ shärl älbĕrˈ kälmĕtˈ [key], 1863–1933, French physician and bacteriologist. He was founder and director of the Pasteur institutes at Saigon (now Ho Chi...

meningitis

(Encyclopedia)meningitis sĕrˌəbrōspīˈnəl [key], acute inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other orga...

infectious canine hepatitis

(Encyclopedia)infectious canine hepatitis, acute viral disease of canines, especially dogs and foxes. The causative agent, an adenovirus, is not infectious to humans. In foxes the disease is manifested primarily as...

Henderson, Donald Ainslie

(Encyclopedia)Henderson, Donald Ainslie, 1928–2016, American physician instrumental in eradicating smallpox, b. Lakewood, Ohio, M.D. Univ. of Rochester, 1954, M.P.H. Johns Hopkins, 1960. He joined (1955) the Epid...

typhus

(Encyclopedia)typhus, any of a group of infectious diseases caused by microorganisms classified between bacteria and viruses, known as rickettsias. Typhus diseases are characterized by high fever and an early onset...

poliomyelitis

(Encyclopedia)poliomyelitis pōˌlēōmīˌəlīˈtĭs [key], polio, or infantile paralysis, acute viral infection, mainly of children but also affecting older persons. Historically, there were three immunologic ty...

iron lung

(Encyclopedia)iron lung, device used to maintain artificial respiration over an extended period of time. Before the successful vaccination program against poliomyelitis, it was used mostly in treatment of that dise...

herpes zoster

(Encyclopedia)herpes zoster, infection of a ganglion (nerve center) with severe pain and a blisterlike eruption in the area of the nerve distribution, a condition called shingles. The causative organism is varicell...

preventive medicine

(Encyclopedia)preventive medicine, branch of medicine dealing with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health practices. Until recently preventive medicine was largely the domain of the U.S. Publi...

typhoid fever

(Encyclopedia)typhoid fever acute, generalized infection caused by Salmonella typhi. The main sources of infection are contaminated water or milk and, especially in urban communities, food handlers who are carriers...

Browse by Subject