Cryptosporidiosis

Cryptosporidiosis is caused by a protozoan called Cryptosporidium, which means “hidden spore” in Greek. It is tiny, only about five microns in diameter (half the size of an amoeba) and invisible except under a microscope. It infects the cells Read the rest of this entry »

Croup

Croup is a frightening but usually not serious condition in babies and toddlers between the ages of six months and three years. It occurs when a child has a cold and the virus causes inflammation, swelling, and secretions in the throat, windpipe (trachea), and voicebox (larynx). Young children have narrow windpipes, so a little inflammation can make breathing difficult. The air trying to get in and out of these narrowed passageways makes the whistling or barking sound Read the rest of this entry »

Pediculosis Pubis

Simply put, crabs is head lice in pubic hair. Sometimes the pubic louse will find its way to beards, eyebrows, eyelashes, chest hairs, and armpits, but it does not live in scalp hair.
The scientific name for the pubic louse is Phthirus pubis, but it’s called a crab because it resembles a miniature crab—and even has tiny pincers and claws for clinging to hairs.
The tiny pubic louse, related to the head louse and body louse, is one to four mm long and visible to the human eye. It infects only humans. The female lays tiny, round, grayish eggs, called nits, which hatch in about a week. Eight to ten Read the rest of this entry »

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is a bacterial or viral infection in the lining of the eye. Some people call it either pink or red eye. I sometimes describe it as “a cold in your eye.”
Bacterial infections result in a yellow, sticky discharge. These are usually the same bacteria that cause ear infections. A virus causes watery discharge and reddened painful eyes. Adenovirus, a virus that often causes colds that come with Read the rest of this entry »

Colds

We all know what colds are because most of us get colds. Young children, who haven’t yet built up immunity to the many cold viruses, have an average of from three to eight colds a year while adults have between two and four. Americans lose millions of days of work and school and spend more than $1 billion on over-the-counter and prescription remedies every year due to the common cold.
Neither a cure nor a vaccine for the common cold is on the horizon, so for now the best we can do is to learn how we Read the rest of this entry »

Herpes Simplex

Cold sores, often called fever blisters, are small blisters on your lips that appear during a cold. Almost everybody gets them at some point in childhood. These sores are caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV), of which there are two types. Type 1 causes most herpes infections above the waist (cold sores, or oral herpes), and type 2 is responsible for 85 Read the rest of this entry »

Cytomegalovirus

CMV is short for cytomegalovirus. You probably aren’t familiar with this long name, but all of us, usually without knowing it, are infected with CMV at some point in our lives. This viral infection rarely produces illness, but when it does—in newborns, AIDS patients, and transplant recipients—it can be devastating.
Scientists discovered cytomegalovirus in 1956. CMV, related to the herpes family of viruses, is the largest and most Read the rest of this entry »

Clostridium perfringens is a mild illness that, like staph food poisoning, is caused by multiplying toxins present in clostridium perfringens type A bacteria, which live in small amounts in human and animal feces and in soil and water.

How Do You Get It?

Usually, you’ll find this bacteria in meat that has not been thoroughly cooked, such as rare beef, meat pies, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, reheated meats, or gravies made of beef, turkey, or chicken. The organisms multiply quickly in foods Read the rest of this entry »

Cholera

Cholera causes painless but profuse watery diarrhea. Without treatment, a severe case of cholera will kill its victim in a few hours. Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium that produces a toxin, causes cholera. Diarrhea results when the toxin attacks Read the rest of this entry »

This is a newly recognized strain of chlamydia that is regarded as an emerging infection. Before investigators realized that a type of chlamydia caused the pneumonia, it used to be called TWAR agent pneumonia, which stands for Taiwan acute respiratory agent pneumonia. Researchers first found chlamydial pneumonia in Taiwan, but it occurs all over the Read the rest of this entry »