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Microbiology Unit Vocabulary Words

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Term
Definition
Nosocomial   an infection acquired in hospital  
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Endemic   infection that is reoccurring in a specific location or population  
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Epidemic   a disease that spreads from person to person in a new area  
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Pandemic   widespread disease transmitted person to person affecting a whole country, possible worldwide  
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Pathogenic   P/T produced by disease  
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Zoonotic   infection or disease spread from vertebrae animals to humans  
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Epizootic   out break of disease in animal population  
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Virulent   highly infectious  
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Aerobic   requiring oxygen  
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Anaerobic   growing in the absence of oxygen (does not require oxygen)  
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Bacillus   a rod-shaped bacterium  
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Coccus   a spherical bacterium  
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Spiral bacteria   motile bacteria having a helical or spiral shape (with stiff cell walls)  
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Spirochetes   motile helical or spiral bacteria (thin, flexible cell walls)  
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Fission   reproductive process in which the parent cell divides into identical independent cell  
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Bacterial conjugation   transfer of genetic material through direct cell to cell contact  
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Progeny   offspring or descendent  
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Colony   a defined mass of bacteria assumed to have grown from a single organism  
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Communicable disease   able to be transmitted directly or indirectly from one individual to another  
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Immunocompromised   having reduced ability to or inability to produce normal immune response  
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Agar   a seaweed derivative used to solidify microbiological media  
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Nematode   any unsegmented worm (roundworm)  
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Ova   egg  
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Parasite   an organism that lives in or on another species at the expense of the species  
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Virion   the infectious form of a virus  
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Mycoplasma   the smallest free-living group of bacteria (lack of cell wall and anaerobic)  
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Antiseptic   a chemical used on living tissues to control the growth of infectious agents  
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Disinfectant   a chemical used on inanimate objects to kill or inactivate microbes  
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Sterilization   the act of eliminating all the living microorganisms from an article or area  
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Vaccine   prevention method where a biological complex is used to improve immunity  
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Coliform   certain gram negative intestinal bacteria including e-coli  
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Occult   concealed or hidden  
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Ectoparasite   parasite on the outside of the skin  
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Congenital   acquired during fetal development and present at time of birth but not inherited  
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Medium   a substance used to provide nutrients for growing microorganisms  
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Culture   growth of microorganisms in a lab  
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Primary media   non selective, contains all elements needed for growth of bacteria  
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Indicator media   used to distinguish one microorganism type from another growing on the same media  
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Selective media   used for the growth of only selected microorganisms  
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Transport media   used as temporary storage, prevents microbial multiplication  
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Nutrient Agar   used for the routine cultivation of non-fastidious bacteria  
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Blood agar   useful for cultivating fastidious organisms and for determining the hemolytic capabilities of an organism (used in strep tests)  
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SSA agar   differentiates Salmonella and Shigella colonies from other Enterobacteriaceae. obtained from stool samples  
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Chocolate agar   heat-treated blood (which turns brown) grows fastidious (particular) respiratory bacteria  
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Thayer-Martin Chocolate agar   Mueller Hinton agar with 5% chocolate sheep blood and antibiotics used for isolating pathogenic Neisseria bacteria (inhibits the growth of most other microorganisms )  
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Eosin Methylene Blue agar   bacteria change color if they ferment lactose (indicates lactose fermentation)  
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Thioglycollate broth   used for strict anaerobes  
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MacConkey agar   bacteria change color if they ferment lactose (indicates lactose fermentation)  
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Normal flora   microorganisms that are normally present at a specific site  
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Opportunistic pathogen   microorganism that causes disease in the host only when the host's immune system cannot fight it  
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Pathogen   an organism capable of causing disease in a host  
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Infection   condition caused by the growth of microorganisms  
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Host   organism from which a parasite obtains nutrients and where most of their life cycle is  
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Mycosis   infection caused by fungi  
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Yeast   a type of unicellular fungus that is aerobic and reproduces by budding  
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Molds   a type of fungus that is aerobic and reproduces using spores  
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Hyphae   filaments of a mold that make up mycelium  
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Mycelium   mass of hyphae that make up a vegetative body of molds  
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Plasmodium   protozoan genus that include the organisms causing human malaria  
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Trichomonas vaginalis   parasitic protozoan that causes a sexually transmitted infection  
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Helminthes   group comprising roundworms and flatworms  
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Pinworm   a small parasitic nematode  
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Standard precautions   precautions against infection by assuming that all body fluids and substances, organs, and unfixed tissues are infectious  
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Airborne precautions   precautions taken to stop the spread of disease by the airborne route  
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Contact precautions   precautions taken to stop the spread of disease by close or direct contact  
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Droplet precautions   precautions taken to stop the spread of disease by air within three feet  
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Carrier   one who harbors an organism, has no signs of disease, but can spread the organism  
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Fomites   substances or surfaces capable of carrying infectious organisms  
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Isolation   limiting movement and interaction of an infectious person  
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Protective isolation   limiting movement and interaction of a susceptible person  
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Nonpathogenic   not causing disease  
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Autotrophs   organisms that produce their own food  
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Heterotrophs   organisms that cannot produce their own food  
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Photosynthetic   capable of creating food using light  
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Chemosynthetic   capable of creating food using inorganic chemicals  
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Saprobes   organisms that feed on dead organic matter  
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Fastidious bacteria   bacteria that has a complex nutritional requirement  
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Eubacteria   true bacteria (most bacteria are eubacteria)  
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Archaebacteria   unicellular bacteria (extremophiles)  
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Methanogens   microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct  
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Halophiles   microorganisms that love salt  
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Thermophiles   microorganisms that love heat  
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Cyanobacteria   photosynthetic bacteria that are cyan colored  
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Avian influenza   bird flu (virus)  
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West Nile virus   transmitted by mosquitoes, causes flu-like symptoms, encephalitis, or meningitis  
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Ebola virus   highly infectious, causes hemorrhagic fever  
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Dengue hemorrhagic fever   tropical disease that results in bleeding, low levels of platelets, and plasma leakage (virus)  
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis   bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB)  
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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)   mad cow disease (prion)  
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Inoculation   process of transferring a population of microorganisms to a growth medium  
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Mordant   a substance that fixes a dye or stain to an object  
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Counter stain   a dye that adds a contrasting color  
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Endospore   dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by certain bacillus bacteria  
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Catalase test   the presence of catalase enzyme is detected using hydrogen peroxide  
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Fecal occult test   detects subtle blood loss in the gastrointestinal tract, may indicate peptic ulcers or cancer  
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Immunoassay   a diagnostic method using antigen-antibody reactions  
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Zone of Inhibition   the area around an antibiotic disk that contains no bacterial growth (antibiotic susceptibility test)  
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Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)   minimum concentration of an antibiotic required to inhibit the growth of a microorganism  
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