Antibody – proteins produced by the immune system for the purpose of recognizing foreign substances
Antigen – a substance that stimulates the immune system to fight against a foreign object that has be recognized in the body
Asymptomatic – to be void of recognizable symptoms of a disease
Carrier – a person or animal that carries an infectious agent and doesn’t show any noticeable signs of the disease
Endemic – a disease that continuously exists in its native geographic region
Epidemic – an unexpected outbreak or increase in cases of a certain disease within a community or region
Host – an organism that a parasite lives on
IgG – an antibody that when present in the blood indicates a recent or remote infection
IgM – an antibody that when present in the blood indicates an acute infection
Immunocompromised – a decreased ability to fight infection due to conditions present at birth, certain medications or another disease
Non-endemic – a disease that is contained within a certain region, but is no native to the area
Nosocomial infection – (cross infection) an infection that a patient acquires at a hospital and/or other healthcare facility
Pandemic – a disease that affects an increased number of the population over a large geographic area, often worldwide
Vector – a carrier who transmits an infective agent to another host
Virus – a very small infectious agent