Viral: Medical conditions caused or possibly caused by a virus
Introduction: Viruses are the smallest life-form existing, since they are not even a single cell. It is almost like they are not alive at all. They are small strands of DNA-like cell material. A virus consists mostly of RNA and cannot survive without host cells.
Viruses are a very common type of infectious disease. Many of the most common human diseases are viral. There are literally hundreds of viral conditions.
Viruses are infectious microbes that can be inside or outside cells. They are little strips of DNA (or RNA) usually wrapped inside a tiny capsule. Viruses are not even a single cell, but are a tiny part of a cell, and thus they are much smaller even than bacteria. Viruses are not alive in the normal sense. They do not feed, nor do they generate energy or waste products. Viruses are effectively inert until they attach to a live body cell. But once they attach, they become alive in a sense. They enter the cell, breaking open the capsule, so that their inside contents of DNA or RNA strips enter the cell. Because this viral DNA looks like normal DNA, the cell starts to copy it like the cell does to ordinary DNA. In this way, the body cell is tricked into making many copies of the virus inside the cell. Eventually, the cell is killed and these newly created viruses are expelled into the body to infect more cells.
Disease group: viruses
Condition count: 74
Classes: classes list
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