Infection

Key concepts

How Infection connects to the ideas, people and events around it.

1. Pathogen

   involves

   A pathogen is a biological agent that causes disease in its host. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites are common types of pathogens.

2. Immune response

   triggers

   The immune response is the host's defense mechanism that detects and eliminates pathogens. It involves both innate and adaptive components, such as white blood cells and antibodies.

3. Antibiotic

   treated by

   An antibiotic is a drug that kills or inhibits the growth of bacteria. Penicillin, discovered in 1928, was the first widely used antibiotic.

4. Vaccination

   prevented by

   Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to stimulate protective immunity against specific pathogens. The smallpox vaccine, introduced in the late 18th century, led to the disease's eradication.

5. Epidemic

   can cause

   An epidemic is the rapid spread of an infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population. The 1918 influenza epidemic infected about one third of the world's population.

6. HIV

   caused by

   Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the causative agent of AIDS, a progressive failure of the immune system. It was first identified in the early 1980s.

7. Louis Pasteur

   studied by

   Louis Pasteur was a French microbiologist who demonstrated that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease. His work laid the foundation for germ theory and vaccines.

8. Koch's postulates

   explained by

   Koch's postulates are a set of criteria to establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a disease. They were formulated by Robert Koch in the 1880s.

Questions about Infection