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conjunctivitis

(Encyclopedia)conjunctivitis kənjəngtəvīˈtəs [key], inflammation or infection of the mucosal membrane that covers the eyeball and lines the eyelid, usually acute, caused by a virus or, less often, by a bacill...

conscientious objector

(Encyclopedia)conscientious objector, person who, on the grounds of conscience, resists the authority of the state to compel military service. Such resistance, emerging in time of war, may be based on membership in...

coronavirus

(Encyclopedia)coronavirus, any of a group (family Coronaviridae, subfamily Orthocoronavirinae) of enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses that have a crownlike or sunlike appearance under an electron microscope due t...

COVID-19

(Encyclopedia)COVID-19, contagious viral disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that is genetically related to SARS-CoV, which causes SARS. Symptoms generall...

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

(Encyclopedia)Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, acute, sometimes fatal disease endemic in many parts of Eurasia and Africa, caused by a tick-borne virus. The virus, an RNA virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae fami...

croup

(Encyclopedia)croup kro͞op [key], acute obstructive laryngitis in young children, usually between the ages of three and six. The manifestations are a high-pitched cough and difficulty in breathing, owing to a spas...

chauvinism

(Encyclopedia)chauvinism shōˈvənĭzəm [key], word derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier of the First French Empire. Used first for a passionate admiration of Napoleon, it now expresses exaggerated...

China

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 China, Mandarin Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo [central glorious people's united country; i.e., people's republic], officially People's Repu...

chloral hydrate

(Encyclopedia)chloral hydrate klōrˈəl hīˈdrāt [key], central nervous system depressant that is widely used as a hypnotic, or sleep-inducing drug. Chloral hydrate is the common ingredient, along with alcohol, ...

cholera

(Encyclopedia)cholera kŏlˈərə [key] or Asiatic cholera, acute infectious disease caused by strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that have been infected by bacteriophages. The bacteria, which are found in fe...