| bacteria |
Bacteria are very, very small living things. You cannot see them with just your eyes. Most bacteria do good things for people. They are important in making soil and helping people to break down food in their bodies. Some bacteria are bad, though, and cause disease. Some kinds of bacteria can make people very sick. |
| chicken pox |
When you have chicken pox, you are sick. It is a disease that gives you a fever and spots on your body. The fever lasts a few days, but the spots take longer to go away, and they itch. Children get chicken pox more often than adults do. |
| contagious |
If a disease is contagious, it means that one person can give it to another person. If you have a contagious illness, you can pass it to other people. [2 definitions] |
| disease |
A disease is something wrong in your body that makes you sick. Some diseases can make you sick just for a short time, but other diseases are very serious. Chicken pox and influenza are two kinds of diseases. A short name for influenza is "the flu." |
| flu |
Flu is a short word for a disease called influenza. When you have the flu, you are very sick, and you usually stay in bed for a week or more. Flu can cause high fever, sore throat, and upset stomach. |
| immune |
When you are immune to a disease, your body is protected from it. |
| infect |
If one thing infects another thing, it passes germs to it that cause disease or harm. [1/2 definitions] |
| influenza |
Influenza is a disease that we often call the flu. When you have influenza, you have a fever and pain in your muscles, and you usually cough a lot. Sometimes your stomach feels terrible too. You feel very bad when you have influenza, and you are too sick to get out of bed. Sometimes influenza can be very serious. |
| mosquito |
A mosquito is an insect with a thin body and two wings. Female mosquitoes bite animals and people, and some mosquitoes spread disease. |
| new |
When something is new, it is in the world for the first time. If you have a new baby sister, it means that she was just born. When there is a new movie at the theater, it means that the movie just came out. When there is a new medicine for some disease, it means that the medicine has just been discovered. [1/2 definitions] |
| sick |
When someone is sick, they don't feel well. They have something wrong with their body. Maybe they have a cold or a disease. When people are very sick, they often have to stay in bed. [1/2 definitions] |
| sickness |
A sickness is a disease. The flu is an example of a sickness. [1/2 definitions] |
| spread |
When you spread information, you tell it to many other people. If people spread a disease, they give it to other people. When you spread something, you send it out to others. [1/5 definitions] |
| treat |
When a doctor treats a disease or injury, they do the best thing they can to make it go away. When a doctor treats your illness, you usually get better. [1/5 definitions] |
| treatment |
A treatment for a disease or injury is a way of helping a person get better when they have it. Sometimes a treatment is medicine. Sometimes it is something to do that helps--like drinking a lot of liquids and staying in bed when you're sick with the flu. Doctors study treatments so that they can help their patients fight disease or heal their injuries. [1/2 definitions] |
| vaccine |
A vaccine is something that can prevent a person from getting a disease. A vaccine goes into a person's body in a shot that is given by a doctor or nurse. Animals are given vaccines to protect them from diseases too. |