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rickettsia

(Encyclopedia)rickettsia rĭkĕtˈsēə [key], any of an order (Rickettsiales) of very small microorganisms, many disease-causing, that live in vertebrates and are transmitted by bloodsucking parasitic arthropods s...

dementia

(Encyclopedia)dementia dĭmĕnˈshə [key] [Lat.,=being out of the mind], progressive deterioration of intellectual faculties resulting in apathy, confusion, and stupor. In the 17th cent. the term was synonymous wi...

Lassa fever

(Encyclopedia)Lassa fever lăsˈə [key], an acute viral disease occurring mostly in W Africa, characterized by high fever, muscle aches, mouth ulcers, and bleeding in the skin in more severe cases. The disease was...

nephrosis

(Encyclopedia)nephrosis nəfrōˈsəs [key], kidney disease characterized by lesions of the epithelial lining of the renal tubules, resulting in marked disturbance in the filtration function and the consequent appe...

multiple sclerosis

(Encyclopedia)multiple sclerosis (MS), chronic, slowly progressive autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerve cells of the brain and spinal co...

mononucleosis, infectious

(Encyclopedia)mononucleosis, infectious mŏnˌəno͞oˌklēōˈsĭs [key], acute infectious disease of older children and young adults, occurring sporadically or in epidemic form, also known as mono, glandular feve...

prion

(Encyclopedia)prion prēˈŏn [key], abnormal form of a protein found in mammals, now generally believed to cause a group of diseases known as prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which are ...

Prusiner, Stanley Ben

(Encyclopedia)Prusiner, Stanley Ben, 1942–, American neurologist, b. Des Moines, Iowa, M.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1968. Prusiner has been a professor at the Univ. of California, San Francisco ...

chorea

(Encyclopedia)chorea kərēˈə, kō– [key] or St. Vitus's dance, acute disturbance of the central nervous system characterized by involuntary muscular movements of the face and extremities. The disease, known al...

psittacosis

(Encyclopedia)psittacosis sĭtəkōˈsĭs [key] or parrot fever, infectious disease caused by the species of Chlamydia psittaci and transmitted to people by birds, particularly parrots, parakeets, and lovebirds. In...