Infectious Disease Terms

Treatment to boost or restore the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, infections, and other diseases.

A bacterial enzyme that is used to neutralize the toxic effects of methotrexate.

Cefepime is a broad spectrum antibiotic from a later cephalosporin generation, given intravenously to treat serious infections including certain resistant bacteria.

Broad coverage is not complete coverage, and what ceftriaxone misses, including Pseudomonas and enterococci, matters as much as what it reaches.

The laboratory craft of keeping living cells growing outside the body, which depends more on excluding contamination than on feeding them.

A treatment used to help the immune system fight diseases, such as cancer and infections with certain viruses.

Redness appearing on both legs at once is rarely cellulitis, since the infection almost always settles on one side only.

Cephalosporins are a large class of antibiotics related to penicillins, grouped into generations with differing ranges of bacterial coverage.

Inflammation of the prostate gland that is caused by a bacterial infection and that continues or gets worse over a long period of time.

Clostridium difficile is a spore forming bacterium that causes diarrhea and colon inflammation, often following antibiotic use that disrupts normal gut bacteria.

CMV is the abbreviation for cytomegalovirus, a herpesvirus that most often causes no illness but can be serious during pregnancy or immune suppression.

A drug used in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria and protozoa.

One of a group of about 20 proteins that is found in the blood and is important in fighting infections and other diseases.

Soft warty growths on genital or anal skin, caused by types of a common virus that rarely lead to cancer.

An inherited disorder in which there is a lower-than-normal number of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that is important in fighting infections).

A bacterium that may stimulate the immune system to fight cancer.

Cytomegalovirus is a common herpesvirus that usually causes no symptoms in healthy people but can produce serious illness during pregnancy or immune suppression.

A type of immune cell that can kill certain cells, including foreign cells, cancer cells, and cells infected with a virus.

A type of immune cell that can kill certain cells, including foreign cells, cancer cells, and cells infected with a virus.

Movement of feces (undigested food, bacteria, mucus, and cells from the lining of the intestines) through the bowel and out the anus.