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May 25, 2013


HIV Testing Glossary of Terms

The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the HIV Testing article.

Acquired: Not inherited, or present at birth (congenital), but developing after birth. For...

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Anonymous testing: Testing in which no name is used -- there is total anonymity -- to iden...

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Antibody: An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein, produced because of the introdu...

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Antiretroviral: An agent or process effective against a retrovirus. For example, a drug to...

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Antiviral: An agent that kills a virus or that suppresses its ability to replicate and, he...

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Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. For example, an asymptomatic infection is an infection wit...

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Bisexual: An individual who engages in both heterosexual and homosexual sexual relations. ...

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Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

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CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency charged with tracking a...

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and invest...

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Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

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ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a rapid immunochemical test that involves an enz...

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Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

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FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Food and Drug Administration: An agency within the US Public Health Service that provides ...

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Herpes: A family of viruses. Herpes also refers to infection with one of the human herpesv...

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Heterosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the opposite sex. Or a person who...

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HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodefi...

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HIV test: A test for the human immunodeficiency virus, the cause of AIDS. HIV tests are de...

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Homosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the same sex. Homosexuals include m...

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Human immunodeficiency virus: HIV, the cause of AIDS. HIV has also been called the human...

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Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing a person from every...

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Immunodeficiency: The inability to form a normal immune response. Immunodeficiency can be ...

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Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

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Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

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Labor: Childbirth, the process of delivering a baby and the placenta, membranes, and umbil...

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Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

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Pediatrics: The field of medicine that is concerned with the health of infants, children, ...

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Penile: Of or pertaining to the penis.

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Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

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Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs, with dense areas of lung inflammation. Pneum...

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Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

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Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.

Prenatal: Occurring or existing before birth.

Public health: The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community...

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Replication: A turning back, repetition, duplication, reproduction.

Saliva: a watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the d...

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Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum, a microscopic orga...

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Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tuberculosis: A highly contagious infection caused by the bacterium called Mycobacterium ...

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Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

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Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, if a person has a viral rash, the rash wa...

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Virus: A microorganism that is smaller than a bacterium that cannot grow or reproduce apar...

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Viruses: Small living particles that can infect cells and change how the cells function. I...

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Western blot: A technique in molecular biology that is used to separate and identify parti...

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