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Summary
Viruses are very tiny germs. They are made of genetic material inside of a protein coating. Viruses cause familiar infectious diseases such as the common cold, flu and warts. They also cause severe illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19.
Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. This can kill, damage, or change the cells and make you sick. Different viruses attack certain cells in your body such as your liver, respiratory system, or blood.
When you get a virus, you may not always get sick from it. Your immune system may be able to fight it off.
For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight off the virus. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Vaccines can help prevent you from getting many viral diseases.
Diagnosis and Tests
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Immunoglobulins Blood Test
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
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PCR Tests
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
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Rapid Tests
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
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Respiratory Pathogens Panel
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Prevention and Risk Factors
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Germs and Hygiene: MedlinePlus Health Topic
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
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Infection Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- How Infections Spread (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Specifics
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Acute Flaccid Myelitis
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
- Adenoviruses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
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Croup: MedlinePlus Health Topic
(National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
- Enterovirus D68 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
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HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy (HAM)/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (TSP)
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Human Metapneumovirus (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)
- Human Parainfluenza Viruses (HPIVs) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Molluscum Contagiosum (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Non-Polio Enterovirus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Images
- Molluscum Contagiosum (VisualDX)
- Viral Exanthem (VisualDX)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Adenoviridae Infections
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Coxsackievirus Infections
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Enterovirus
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Virus Diseases
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: RVG Peptide-Functionalized Favipiravir Nanoparticle Delivery System Facilitates Antiviral Therapy of Neurotropic...
- Article: Therapeutic trials for long COVID-19: A call to action from the...
- Article: Emerging viral infections in immunocompromised patients: A great challenge to better...
- Viral Infections -- see more articles
Children
- Adenovirus (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Coxsackievirus Infections (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Enterovirus Infections (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
- Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease (VisualDX)
- Human Parainfluenza Viruses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Parechovirus (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Roseola (Sixth Disease) (VisualDX)
- Viral Exanthem (VisualDX)
Patient Handouts
- ECHO virus (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Enterovirus D68 (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Hand-foot-mouth disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Herpangina (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Molluscum contagiosum (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Parainfluenza (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Roseola (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish