Key Terms
- acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
- a group of conditions associated with immune system dysfunction caused by the human immunodeficiency virus
- adaptive immunity
- the body’s organism-specific defenses against infection
- anti-infective stewardship
- the process of using anti-infectives judiciously to prevent drug resistance
- antibiogram
- a document detailing local bacterial resistance patterns that is used to guide antibiotic choices
- antiretroviral therapy (ART)
- medications designed to treat infections caused by the human immunodeficiency virus
- apoptosis
- programmed cell death, usually due to cellular damage
- bactericidal
- the ability to directly kill bacteria
- bacteriostatic
- having the property of preventing bacteria from actively replicating, although not killing them directly
- helminths
- worms capable of causing parasitic infections
- human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- retrovirus that causes progressive immune system dysfunction
- immunocompromised
- the state in which the immune system is unable to effectively prevent infection
- innate immunity
- the body’s nonspecific defenses against infection
- parasitic infection
- infection caused by parasites—organisms that derive nutrition from their host while causing it harm
- protozoa
- unicellular organisms capable of causing parasitic infections
- sexually transmitted infection (STI)
- infections passed on via sexual forms of contact
- superinfection
- infection caused by resistant bacteria after the use of broad-spectrum anti-infectives
- tuberculosis (TB)
- a pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- viral load
- the number of viral particles measured in a sample of body fluid or tissue (usually blood)
- virologic cure
- sustained undetectable viral levels in the blood