rickettsia

Thân thiện

A scientist examines a rickettsia bacterium under a microscope.

Definition

Noun: 1. A type of pathogenic bacterium: Rickettsia refers to any of a group of very small, rod-shaped, intracellular bacteria. They are obligate parasites, meaning they can only live and reproduce inside the cells of a host. 2. Disease-causing agent: These bacteria are primarily transmitted to humans and other vertebrate hosts through the bites of arthropod vectors such as ticks, lice, fleas, and mites. They are responsible for several febrile (fever-causing) diseases.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The scientist studied the rickettsia responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
  • Diagnosis of a rickettsia infection often requires specific blood tests.
  • This rickettsia species is carried by the common tick.

Advanced Usage

• "Rickettsial" (adjective): Pertaining to or caused by rickettsiae.
  • The patient was treated for a rickettsial disease.
• The plural form is rickettsiae (pronounced rik-ET-see-ee) or rickettsias.

Variants and Related Words

• Rickettsiosis (noun): The general term for any disease caused by rickettsiae.
  • Epidemic typhus is a severe form of rickettsiosis.

Different Meanings

This word has a highly specific, technical meaning in microbiology and medicine. It does not have common figurative or alternative meanings.

Synonyms

• Pathogen (general term for a disease-causing organism)
• Intracellular bacterium (descriptive term for its biological nature)

Related Idioms or Phrases

• There are no common idioms or phrasal verbs using the word rickettsia due to its specialized scientific nature.

Học thuật

Noun

1. any of a group of very small rod-shaped bacteria that live in biting arthropods (as ticks and mites) and cause disease in vertebrate hosts; they cause typhus and other febrile diseases in human beings