actinomycosis
- noun
- /ˌæktɪnəˈmaɪkəsɪs/
- Specialized
:
actinomicosis
- Patients with actinomycosis often experience painful abscesses in the mouth due to this chronic bacterial disease.
Examples
-
Penicillin and sodium iodide were given for suspected actinomycosis.
Academic text (1992) -
The patient was diagnosed with actinomycosis after presenting with swelling and pus discharge from lung abscesses.
-
Treatment for actinomycosis typically involves antibiotics to manage the chronic bacterial infection.
Compounds
- Specialized
An infection of the face and neck that causes swelling and abscesses
- Specialized
A long infection in the belly caused by bacteria that makes pockets of pus and swelling
- Specialized
A serious chest and lung infection that makes pockets of pus and damages nearby tissue
Surface Forms
Morphology
actinomycosis = Actinomyces (opaque) = actin + myc + osis
The disease name is formed from a scientific genus name plus the medical suffix '-osis', a formation that is specialist and not readily interpretable by an average B1 learner.
Etymology
Actinomycosis comes from Greek parts actino- 'ray', myco- 'fungus', and -osis 'disease', because the germs that cause it make thread-like, ray-shaped clumps that looked like a little sun or fungus to early doctors. So actinomycosis literally means a 'ray-fungus disease', which helps explain the name for a long, painful infection with swelling and pus, even though it is actually caused by bacteria rather than a true fungus.
