The Characteristics of a Pathogen That Determine Its Virulence Include

Question

The characteristics of a pathogen that determine its virulence include which of the following?
A)Pathogenicity
B)Invasiveness
C)Infectivity
D)All of the choices are correct.

Accepted Answer

All of the choices (pathogenicity, invasiveness, infectivity) contribute to a pathogen's virulence. Pathogenicity refers to the ability of a microbe to cause disease, invasiveness refers to the ability of the microbe to invade host tissues, and infectivity refers to the ability of the microbe to establish an infection. A pathogen with high levels of all three characteristics is likely to be more virulent than one with lower levels of one or more characteristics.