spirillum fever
- noun
- Specialized
- The doctor suspected spirillum fever after hearing about the patient's recent travel to the Far East.
Examples
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Prompt antibiotic treatment can effectively cure spirillum fever.
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Outbreaks of spirillum fever have been reported in several Asian cities.
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Doctors diagnosed him with spirillum fever last week.
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Is spirillum fever common in tropical regions?
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Recent cases of spirillum fever have been linked to contaminated food in rural communities of Asia.
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Travelers should be aware of spirillum fever when visiting regions where it is endemic.
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Health officials advise precautions to prevent spirillum fever in areas known for rat infestations.
Synonyms
A disease from a rat bite that causes fever, rash and repeated infection at the bite site
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is fully compositional: 'Spirillum' names a type of spiral-shaped bacteria and 'fever' denotes an elevated body temperature, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it means a fever caused by spirillum bacteria. Forming disease names by combining an agent/organism with 'fever' is a common, cross-linguistic pattern, making the meaning predictable.
Etymology
The noun spirillum fever comes from tiny, spiral-shaped bacteria called 'spirillum' and the word fever for a high temperature. These spiral germs often spread from rats, so the name means 'a fever caused by spiral bacteria'.