Textbook Question
Identify the viral family that infects skin, mucosa, and nerve cells; causes infections that can recur because of latency; and has polyhedral geometry.
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Ch. 13 - Viruses, Viroids, and Prions
Tortora14th EditionMicrobiology: An IntroductionISBN: 9780138200398
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Table of contents
- Ch. 1 - The Microbial World and You18
- Ch. 2 - Chemical Principles20
- Ch. 3 - Observing Microorganisms Through a Microscope18
- Ch. 4 - Functional Anatomy of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells21
- Ch. 5 - Microbial Metabolism20
- Ch. 6 - Microbial Growth20
- Ch. 7 - The Control of Microbial Growth20
- Ch. 8 - Microbial Genetics19
- Ch. 9 - Biotechnology & DNA Technology20
- Ch. 10 - Classification of Microorganisms15
- Ch. 11 - The Prokaryotes: Domains Bacteria and Archaea14
- Ch. 12 - The Eukaryotes: Fungi, Algae, Protozoa, and Helminths17
- Ch. 13 - Viruses, Viroids, and Prions20
- Ch. 14 - Principles of Disease and Epidemiology21
- Ch. 15 - Microbial Mechanisms of Pathogenicity19
- Ch. 16 - Innate Immunity: Nonspecific Defenses of the Host20
- Ch. 17 - Adaptive Immunity: Specific Defenses of the Host20
- Ch. 18 - Practical Applications of Immunology20
- Ch. 19 - Disorders Associated with the Immune System19
- Ch. 20 - Antimicrobial Drugs19
- Ch. 21 - Microbial Diseases of the Skin and Eyes21
- Ch. 22 - Microbial Diseases of the Nervous System19
- Ch. 23 - Microbial Diseases of the Cardiovascular and Lymphatic Systems20
- Ch. 24 - Microbial Diseases of the Respiratory System20
- Ch. 25 - Microbial Diseases of the Digestive System20
- Ch. 26 - Microbial Diseases of the Urinary and Reproductive Systems19
- Ch. 27 - Environmental Microbiology20
- Ch. 28 - Applied and Industrial Microbiology19
Tortora14th EditionMicrobiology: An IntroductionISBN: 9780138200398Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 13, Problem 10
A viral species is not defined on the basis of the disease symptoms it causes. The best example of this is
a. polio.
b. rabies.
c. hepatitis.
d. chickenpox and shingles.
e. measles.
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that viral species classification is based on genetic and structural characteristics rather than the symptoms or diseases they cause.
Recognize that some viruses can cause multiple distinct diseases or different clinical manifestations, which means disease symptoms alone are not reliable for defining viral species.
Identify the example where a single viral species causes more than one distinct disease, illustrating that symptoms are not the defining factor.
Recall that chickenpox and shingles are caused by the same virus (varicella-zoster virus), but they present as different diseases at different times.
Conclude that the best example illustrating that viral species are not defined by disease symptoms is the virus causing chickenpox and shingles.
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Key Concepts
Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Viral Species Definition
Viral species are classified based on genetic, structural, and replication characteristics rather than the symptoms they cause. Unlike bacteria, viruses cannot be grouped solely by disease manifestation because different viruses can cause similar symptoms, and one virus can cause multiple diseases.
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05:12
Persistent Viral Infections
Latency and Reactivation in Viruses
Some viruses can remain dormant in the host and reactivate later, causing different diseases at different times. For example, the varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox initially and can later reactivate as shingles, illustrating why disease symptoms alone do not define viral species.
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Disease Symptom Overlap Among Viruses
Different viruses can cause similar symptoms, making symptom-based classification unreliable. For instance, hepatitis can be caused by multiple unrelated viruses (A, B, C), showing that symptoms alone do not determine viral species identity.
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05:09Intro to Characteristics of Infectious Disease
Related Practice
Textbook Question
Which of the following does not initiate DNA synthesis?
a. A double-stranded DNA virus (Poxviridae)
b. A DNA virus with reverse transcriptase (Hepadnaviridae)
c. An RNA virus with reverse transcriptase (Retroviridae)
d. A single-stranded RNA virus (Togaviridae)
e. None of the above
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Textbook Question
Plant viruses can’t penetrate intact plant cells because (a) ________; therefore, they enter cells by (b) ________. Plant viruses can be cultured in (c) ________.
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Textbook Question
Persistent viral infections such as (a) ________ might be caused by (b) ________ that are (c) ________.
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