What term describes the degree of toxicity or injury-producing potential of a microorganism?

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Multiple Choice

What term describes the degree of toxicity or injury-producing potential of a microorganism?

Explanation:
Virulence describes the degree of toxicity or injury-producing potential of a microorganism. It captures how harmful the organism can be once it infects a host, influenced by factors like toxins and mechanisms that damage tissues or evade the immune system. Pathogenicity is the broader ability to cause disease (including entry, colonization, and evasion), infectivity is about establishing infection, and cytotoxicity specifically refers to killing cells.

Virulence describes the degree of toxicity or injury-producing potential of a microorganism. It captures how harmful the organism can be once it infects a host, influenced by factors like toxins and mechanisms that damage tissues or evade the immune system. Pathogenicity is the broader ability to cause disease (including entry, colonization, and evasion), infectivity is about establishing infection, and cytotoxicity specifically refers to killing cells.

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