National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - Part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, NIAID conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.⏎
Rheumatic Fever - An inflammatory disease that may be caused by an untreated or improperly treated case of strep throat.⏎
Plasmid - A ring of DNA usually found in bacteria that is separate from and can replicate independently from DNA in a chromosome and can provide bacteria with some advantages, such as antibiotic resistance.⏎
Pathogen - A biological agent that causes disease.⏎
Pandemic - An increase in the occurrence of a particular disease over a very large region, such as a continent or the entire globe, that is greater than what is expected over a given period of time.⏎