Host

In medicine and biology, the host can be a number of different things, including: {{}}The organism from which a parasite obtains its nutrition and/or shelter; An organism or cell culture in which a virus can replicate itself; and The transplant recipient of a tissue or organ graft.

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The organism in or on which a parasite lives, deriving its body substance or energy from the h.. [L. hospes, a h.]

- accidental h. one that harbors an organism which usually does not infect it.

- amplifier h. a h. in which infectious agents multiply rapidly to high levels, providing an important source of infection for vectors in vector-borne diseases.

- dead-end h. a h. from which infectious agents are not transmitted to other susceptible hosts.

- definitive h. one in which a parasite reaches the adult or sexually mature stage. SYN: final h..

- final h. SYN: definitive h..

- intermediate h., intermediary h. 1. one in which larval or developmental stages occur; 2. a h. through which a microorganism can pass or which contains an asexual stage of a parasite. SYN: secondary h..

- paratenic h. an intermediate h. in which no development of the parasite occurs, although its presence may be required as an essential link in the completion of the parasite's life cycle; e.g., the successive fish hosts that carry the plerocercoid of Diphyllobothrium latum, the broad fish tapeworm, to larger food fish eventually eaten by humans or other final hosts. SYN: transport h..

- reservoir h. the h. of an infection in which the infectious agent multiplies and/or develops, and upon which the agent is dependent for survival in nature; the h. essential for the maintenance of the infection during times when active transmission is not occurring.

- secondary h. SYN: intermediate h..

- transport h. SYN: paratenic h..

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healthcare open systems and trials; hybrid open system technology; hypo-osmotic shock treatment

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host 'hōst n

1) a living animal or plant on or in which a parasite lives see DEFINITIVE HOST, INTERMEDIATE HOST

2) the larger, stronger, or dominant one of a commensal or symbiotic pair

3 a) an individual into which a tissue or part is transplanted from another

b) an individual in whom an abnormal growth (as a cancer) is proliferating

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n.

an animal or plant in or upon which a parasite lives. An intermediate host is one in which the parasite passes its larval or asexual stages; a definitive host is one in which the parasite develops to its sexual stage.

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(hōst) [L. hospes] 1. an animal or plant that harbors or nourishes another organism (parasite). 2. the recipient of an organ or tissue transplanted from another organism (the donor).