Lesson plan
Host factor
Host factor (sometimes known as risk factor) is a medical term referring to the traits of an individual person or animal that affect susceptibility to disease, especially in comparison to other individuals. The term arose in the context of infectious disease research, in contrast to "organism factors", such as the virulence and infectivity of a microbe. Host factors that may vary in a population and affect disease susceptibility can be innate or acquired. Some examples: *general health *psychological characteristics and attitude *nutritional state *social ties *previous exposure to the organism or related antigens *haplotype or other specific genetic differences of immune function *substance abuse *race The term is now used in oncology and many other medical contexts related to individual differences of disease vulnerability.
Article summary
Host factor (sometimes known as risk factor) is a medical term referring to the traits of an individual person or animal that affect susceptibility to disease, especially in comparison to other individuals. The term arose in the context of infectious disease research, in contrast to "organism factors", such as the virulence and infectivity of a microbe. Host factors that may vary in a population and affect disease susceptibility can be innate or acquired. Some examples: *general health *psychological characteristics and attitude *nutritional state *social ties *previous exposure to the organism or related antigens *haplotype or other specific genetic differences of immune function *substance abuse *race The term is now used in oncology and many other medical contexts related to individual differences of disease vulnerability.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.