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Glossary

Argumentum ad populum

Argumentum ad populum is a mistaken argument that sustains the fact that a

proposition is true because many or most people believe it. This may be exemplified by

the following sentence used in some types of communication: "If many believe so, it is

so."

 

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Antiviral agent (antiviral, antiviral drug)

Prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) used specifically for treating

viral infections. Specific antivirals are used to target specific viruses and, unlike most

antibiotics, they inhibit the target pathogen development (its capability to multiply and

reproduce), instead of destroying it.

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Antitoxin

An antibody produced in response to and capable of neutralizing a specific biologic

toxin such as those that cause diphtheria, gas gangrene, or tetanus. Antitoxins are

used prophylactically and therapeutically.

 

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Antimicrobial resistance occurs as a result of microbes, such as bacteria and viruses,

changing in ways that reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of the drugs used to treat

the infections they cause. Antimicrobial resistance can develop from the use of

antimicrobials in humans, animals, or plants (antimicrobials include antibacterial drugs,

antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparisitic drugs). The overuse and/or

inappropriate use of antimicrobials make the development and spread of resistance

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Antigenic shift

The process by which two or more different strains of a virus, or strains of two or more

different viruses, combine to form a new subtype having a mixture of the surface

antigens of the two or more original strains. The term is often applied specifically to

influenza, as that is the best-known example, but the process is also known to occur

with other viruses. An antigenic shift may result in a worldwide pandemic if the virus is

efficiently transmitted from person to person.

 

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Antigenic drift

A minor change in surface antigens that results from point mutations in a gene

segment. The accumulation of mutations within the genes that code for antibodybinding

sites results in a new strain of virus particles, which cannot be inhibited as

effectively by the antibodies that were originally targeted against previous strains,

making it easier for the virus to spread throughout a partially immune

population.Antigenic drift may result in epidemics, since the protection from past

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Antibody

An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein, produced in response to the

introduction of an antigen into the body, and which possesses the remarkable ability to

combine with the very antigen that triggered its production. The production of

antibodies is a major function of the immune system and is carried out by a type of

white blood cell called a B cell (B lymphocyte). Antibodies can be triggered by and

directed at foreign proteins that can be part of a microorganism structure or produced

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Anthrax

A serious bacterial infection caused by Bacillus anthracis that occurs primarily in

animals. Humans become infected when the spores of B. anthracis enter the body by

contact with animals infected with B. anthracis or from contact with contaminated

animal products, insect bites, ingestion, or inhalation. Aerosolized ("weaponized")

spores of B. anthracis can potentially be used for biological warfare and bioterrorism.

Inhalation typically involves hemorrhagic mediastinitis (bleeding into the mid-chest),

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Alert threshold

In the field of infectious disease outbreaks, the critical number of cases (or indicator,

proportion, rate, etc.) that is used to sound an early warning, launch an investigation at

the start of an epidemic and prepare to respond to the epidemic.

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Airway

The path that air follows to get into and out of the lungs. The mouth and nose are the

normal entry and exit ports for the airway. Entering air then passes through the back of

the throat (pharynx) and continues through the voice box (larynx), down the trachea, to

finally pass through the bronchi.

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