Infectivity
(Redirected from Infectiousness)
In epidemiology, infectivity is the ability of a pathogen to establish an infection. More specifically, infectivity is a pathogen's capacity for horizontal transmission that is, how frequently it spreads among hosts that are not in a parent-child relationship. The measure of infectivity in a population is called incidence.
Infectivity has been shown to positively correlate with virulence. This means that as a pathogen's ability to infect a greater number of hosts increases, so does the level of harm it brings to the host.[1]
A pathogen's infectivity is subtly but importantly different from its transmissibility, which refers to a pathogen's capacity to pass from parent to child.
See also[edit | edit source]
- Basic reproduction number (basic reproductive rate, basic reproductive ratio, R0, or r nought)
References[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
Navigation: Wellness - Encyclopedia - Health topics - Disease Index - Drugs - World Directory - Gray's Anatomy - Keto diet - Recipes
Search WikiMD
Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound) available.
Advertise on WikiMD
WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.
Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD