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Questions tagged [infection]

Questions regarding the ability of organisms to cause illness or disease in the body upon entering and multiplying in it should use this tag. It may be a virus, bacterium, parasite or other organism which uses the body as a host to the host's detriment. Some infections are subclinical or result in carrier states. Symbiosis is not considered an infection.

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21 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the main way COVID-19 spreads?

Reading numerous news articles about COVID-19, I got confused as to what is its main transmission route. In particular, I am confused as to whether it is direct landing of respiratory droplets in ...
Mitsuko's user avatar
  • 313
4 votes
1 answer
669 views

In a viral infection, which symptoms are caused by the virus itself, and which symptoms are caused by the body fighting the virus? [closed]

Most symptoms commonly associated with respiratory viral infections, like the common cold, are actually immune in nature. Fever is the body's attempt to overheat the virus, excess mucous is the body's ...
TheEnvironmentalist's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
5k views

Effect of the common cold on the immune system

I've heard that once a person catches a cold, his whole immune system becomes weak and is affected. In what way does having a cold influence the immune system? If it does weaken it, how can one keep ...
Akshay Vasu's user avatar
  • 3,364
11 votes
1 answer
467 views

How does a MRSA test work?

Let's assume we have a patient with acute infection. The doctor suspects MRSA. A culture is taken, brought to the lab, and then what? I'm interested to hear what are the usual steps a laboratory ...
rumtscho's user avatar
  • 2,802
10 votes
2 answers
161 views

Are there diseases for which infection does not grant lasting immunity but a vaccine does?

There has been a lot of discussion about whether people who have COVID-19 and recover will have long-lasting immunity. At the same time, work is underway to create a vaccine for this disease. But if ...
BrenBarn's user avatar
  • 621
8 votes
1 answer
190 views

Does viral load of the initial COVID-19 infection affect its severity?

If someone gets infected by a droplet containing a high load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus would he be more likely to develop more severe symptoms compared to someone who gets infected by a droplet ...
I M's user avatar
  • 181
6 votes
1 answer
94 views

How can there be a level of HIV viral load that will make infecting others impossible?

I just read about a court case where someone was acquitted for "being dangerous to the surrounding" by having unprotected sex when diagnosed with HIV. The reasoning was that since this person was ...
d-b's user avatar
  • 433
3 votes
1 answer
55 views

Use of antibiotics with chest infections

I would like to have a confusing part of medicine cleared up. My experience of medical intervention is as follows. As pointed out in the answer to Does taking antibiotics make you immune to virus? ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
  • 6,236
3 votes
2 answers
119 views

Can you recover from COVID-19, and then be reinfected so as to be a danger to other people?

Assuming I've contracted COVID-19 this January and made a full recovery and the antibodies have already left my body again. Now, I come into contact with someone who is sick and I inhale some COVID-19 ...
cheesus's user avatar
  • 133
2 votes
2 answers
75 views

T2DM medication treatment pathway

I am looking at the T2DM medications specified here and have a few questions about them. 1) Why don't I see drugs like Troglitazone, Tolazamide, Acarbose, Acetohexamide, Chlorpropramide, Miglitol? ...
The Great's user avatar
  • 307
2 votes
0 answers
39 views

Publication on the contamination of used needels by addicts

I am looking for scientific publications on the likelyhood to get infected with a specific disease by used needles which were thrown away by careless addicts. Which viruses can be found statistically ...
Jonas Stein's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
135 views

What are the genetic predispositions, if any, for covid-19?

What are the genetic predispositions, if any, for covid-19? For example, https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1258244/Coronavirus-symptoms-COVID19-susceptibility-genetic-transmission-latest-...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
41 views

Do gloves offer extra protection in general against a COVID-19 infection?

For people who neither are medical personnel, nor in any related field like geriatic care, what kind of protection would gloves provide? I mind people in their daily activities like shopping or using ...
Quora Feans's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
105 views

Is standing apart 2m an appropriate Social Distancing measure for choirs

In our choir, we are discussing measures to slow the spread of the novel Coronavirus in our community. However, I lack understanding about how the virus spreads in a closed room. The German Public ...
akraf's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
0 answers
101 views

Why would someone, healthy and 10-39 years old, infected with covid-19 might die?

From https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus we can see that a person between 10 and 39 years old has a probability of 0.2% of dying, which is very low but meaningful. See also this table below for ...
I likeThatMeow's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
68 views

Are H. Pylori infections the most common cause of both gastric and duodenal ulcers? Is the urea breath test a useful diagnostic for both kinds?

H. pylori infections are a frequent cause of peptic ulcers, and a positive result from a urea breath test indicating the likely presence of H. pilori may be followed by treatment that includes one or ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
509 views

Can wearing a mask when sick help fight off infection?

I keep reading that at least in the case of viruses humidifiers and warmer air can kill viruses, especially if you have sinusitis. I was thinking that if you wear a mask you would achieve both higher ...
Nelson Rothermel's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
27 views

T2DM diagnosis vs disorder due to T2DM diagnosis?

I have a database of diabetic patients. Mostly 80 % are T2DM patients. Now I would like to identify the T2DM patients based on their conditions reported. I mean when patients visit hospital (diabetic ...
The Great's user avatar
  • 307