Definitive or final host Health Dictionary

A person or other living animal that affords subsistence or lodgement to an infectious agent under natural conditions; in an epidemiologic context, the host may be the population or group, or biological, social and behavioural characteristics of the group.... host

A complication of a bone marrow transplant in which immune system cells in the transplanted marrow attack the recipient’s tissues. Graft-versus-host (GVH) disease may occur soon after transplantation or appear some months later. The first sign is usually a skin rash. This may be followed by diarrhoea, abdominal pain, jaundice, inflammation of the eyes and mouth, and breathlessness.

GVH disease can usually be prevented by administration of immunosuppressant drugs. If the disease develops, it can be treated with corticosteroid drugs and immunosuppressant drugs such as ciclosporin In some cases, however, it can be difficult to control.... graft-versus-host disease

A condition that is a common complication of BONE MARROW transplant (see TRANSPLANTATION). It results from certain LYMPHOCYTES in the transplanted marrow attacking the transplant recipient’s tissues, which they identify as ‘foreign’. GVHD may appear soon after a transplant or develop several months later. The condition, which is fatal in about a third of victims, may be prevented by immunosuppressant drugs such as ciclosporin.... graft versus host disease (gvhd)

Array of hosts susceptible to infection with an agent.... host range

An establishment which provides accommodation for older or disabled persons who cannot live independently but do not need nursing care, although some personal care may be provided.... hostel

An animal or human host where the juvenile stages of the parasite undergo an asexual reproductive phase of development but not reaching adult stage.... intermediate host

An intermediate host which becomes infected by consuming another intermediate host and in which the parasite does not develop any further than in the first intermediate host. Also called a “transport host”.... paratenic host

An animal species which carries a pathogen without detriment to itself and serves as a source of infection. Host which acts as a reservoir of the infection in nature.... reservoir host

The sum total of body mechanisms which interpose barriers to the progress of invasion or multiplication of infectious agents, or to damage by their toxic products. 1. Immunity - That resistance usually associated with possession of antibodies having a specific action on the microorganism concerned with a particular infectious disease or on its toxin. Passive immunity is attained either naturally, by maternal transfer, or artificially, by inoculation of specific protective antibodies (convalescent or immune serum or immune serum (gamma) globulin (human) and is of brief duration (days to months). Active immunity lasting months to years is attained either naturally, by infection, with or without clinical manifestations, or artificially, byinoculation of fractions or products of the infectious agent or of the agent itself, in killed, modified or variant form. 2. Inherent resistance - An ability to resist disease independently of antibodies or of specifically developed tissue response; it commonly rests in anatomic or physiologic characteristics of the host; it may be genetic or acquired, permanent or temporary.... resistance (host)

An animal merely acting as a transporter for a parasite, c.f. Paratemic host.... transport host