infection

infection

1. invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms

2. the resulting condition in the tissues

3. an infectious disease

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Infection

A term considered by some to mean the entrance, growth, and multiplication of a microorganism (pathogen) in the body of a host, resulting in the establishment of a disease process. Others define infection as the presence of a microorganism in host tissues whether or not it evolves into detectable pathologic effects. The host may be a bacterium, plant, animal, or human being, and the infecting agent may be viral, rickettsial, bacterial, fungal, or protozoan.

A differentiation is made between infection and infestation. Infestation is the invasion of a host by higher organisms such as parasitic worms. See Epidemiology, Medical bacteriology, Medical mycology, Medical parasitology, Opportunistic infections, Pathogen, Virus

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Bioscience. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

What does it mean when you dream about an infection?

A dream about being infected might represent anything from absorbing (being “infected by”) the negative attitudes of others to concerns about one’s health. Possibly, the dream infection represents negative thoughts or feelings. (See also Illness).

The Dream Encyclopedia, Second Edition © 2009 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

infection

[in′fek·shən]

(medicine)

Invasion of the body by a pathogenic organism, with or without disease manifestation.

Pathologic condition resulting from invasion of a pathogen.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Infection

 

penetration of a pathogenic parasite into a human or animal organism and the state of being infected. The concept of infection is also applied to one-celled organisms (bacteriophages). On the other hand, there is a tendency to distinguish between the concept of infection and that of parasitism, including invasion.

Upon entering the body, the causative agent concentrates in certain organs and tissues. For example, in the course of evolution the itch mite adapted to parasitizing the epithelial layer of skin; the causative agent of typhus, Rickettsia prowazekii, the wall of arterioles and arterial capillaries; and the influenza virus, the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract. After the parasite enters the body, a complex interaction takes place between the parasite and host—an infectious process. The infectious process (dynamics of pathological changes) includes the causative agent’s adaptation to new conditions of existence and its reproduction, dissemination of the process, metastasis, and intoxication of the host. The infectious process and the functional disturbances in the host and its reflex reactions constitute the pathogenetic essence of infectious disease.

An infection is manifested as an acute or chronic form of the disease or carrier state. The development of a particular form depends, on the one hand, on the properties of the causative agent—its infectiousness, invasiveness, and capacity to form exotoxins and endotoxins—and on the number of parasites entering the organism. On the other hand, the condition of the organism and degree of susceptibility or predisposition to a given disease is a very important factor. The presence of certain causative agents in the organism does not provoke a pathological process unless some other conditions exist. Such causative agents are said to be conditionally pathogenic. They include the large group of causative agents of wound infections, many Escherichiaspecies, and herpesvirus. They may exist a long time without producing symptoms on the skin, on the mucous membranes, and in the intestine until an injury, chill, or other factor enables them to manifest their pathogenic properties.

An infected organism or carriers of the causative agents are the sources of infections. Every infectious disease has its own specific mechanism of transmission. In intestinal infections, such as dysentery or typhoid fever, the causative agent is eliminated from the body with feces or urine and in one way or another enters the mouth of a healthy individual. In infectious diseases of the respiratory tract, the causative agent is eliminated with drops of mucus during sneezing, coughing, or talking and penetrates into a healthy individual with inhaled air (the droplet mechanism of transmission). In typhus, malaria, bubonic plague, and some other diseases, the causative agent is trasmitted by blood-sucking insects—lice, mosquitoes, and fleas—parasitizing first a sick and then a healthy individual. The causative agents of scabies and fungal and venereal diseases are transmitted by direct contact with a diseased individual.

A knowledge of the mechanisms of transmission of infection is the basis of prevention of infectious diseases.

REFERENCES

Mechnikov, I. I. Newspriimchivost’ k infektsionnym bolezniam, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1947.
Gromashevskii, L. V. Obshchaia epidemiologiia, 4th ed. Moscow, 1965. Pages 29–45.

I. I. ELKIN

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.