Scientists Say: Virulence

There’s a word to describe how potent a virus or bacteria is in being able to cause disease

Some germs cause disease easily, but others require more exposure. This is a difference in virulence.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE

September 21, 2015 at 6:00 am

Virulence (noun “VEER-uh-lenss”, adjective, “VEER-uh-lent”)

In medicine, this is the potency of a germ in being able to cause an infectious disease. A virus that can infect someone with only a few particles is very virulent. One that requires a large number of viral particles has low virulence.

In a sentence

Germs can work together to stay alive virulent, even when antibiotics try to kill them.

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Power Words

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infectious An adjective that describes a type of germ that can be transmitted to people, animals or other living things.

virulence (in medicine) The potency of a virus, bacterium or other agent in causing infectious disease. Among a given species, some strains may cause disease with very little exposure (such as infection with a few cells). Less virulent strains may take massive exposures to create disease.

virus Tiny infectious particles consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by protein. Viruses can reproduce only by injecting their genetic material into the cells of living creatures. Although scientists frequently refer to viruses as live or dead, in fact no virus is truly alive. It doesn’t eat like animals do, or make its own food the way plants do. It must hijack the cellular machinery of a living cell in order to survive.