tubercle bacillus
- noun
- /ˈtjuːbərkəl bəˈsɪləs/
- Archaic
:
bacilo de la tuberculosis
- However, when drug treatment is stopped before all mycobacterium have been completely destroyed, there is a high risk that remaining tubercle bacilli will become reactivated as drug-resistant bacilli.
- effective against the tubercle bacillus
Examples
-
But with the discovery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882 and the establishment of sanatoriums, both men and women were relegated to lives of seclusion, sacrificing autonomy for the prospect of a cure.
Blog text (30) -
In addition, tubercle bacilli can reside in a healthy individual for many years in walled-off vesicles and then become active when health status worsens.
Academic text (2005) -
It had dropped to 2,000 per million 40 years later, in 1880, when the tubercle bacillus was finally identified.
Academic text (2000) -
Sputum smears and cultures for tubercle bacilli usually give negative results.
Academic text (2007) -
The history of chronic sinusitis and bronchitis in our patient suggests that inadequate clearance of tubercle bacilli in respiratory secretions may have played a role.
Academic text (2005) -
Thus, new strategies for the eradication of latent organisms are required, and such strategies will arise from a better understanding of the mechanism by which the tubercle bacilli persist.
Academic text (2000) -
The tubercle bacillus causes serious health issues in humans and can lead to tuberculosis if not treated properly.
-
Doctors often test for the presence of the tubercle bacillus in patients who show symptoms of tuberculosis.
-
To effectively combat the spread of tuberculosis, public health initiatives focus on identifying and treating infections caused by the tubercle bacillus.
Synonyms
1
4.6
A bacterium that causes tuberculosis in people and some animals
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward biomedical compound: 'tubercle' denotes the nodules of tuberculosis and 'bacillus' denotes a rod-shaped bacterium, so together they denote the bacterium associated with tubercles (i.e., the organism that causes tuberculosis). This is a compositional naming pattern common in scientific terminology and across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Tubercle bacillus comes from a simple image: tubercle means a 'small lump' and bacillus means a 'rod-shaped bacterium'. That's why the term refers to the rod-shaped germ that causes 'tuberculosis'.