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THERAPEUTICS

The area of medicine concerned with the various methods of healing and treatment.

TOXEMIA

Blood poisoning resulting from the toxins produced by rapidly multiplying bacteria at a localized site of infection such as an abscess.  Symptoms are varied including fever, vomiting and diarrhea and a general feeling of being unwell. 

TOXIN

A poison produced by bacteria and by many species of plant and also present in snake venom.  In the body, a toxin acts as an antigen and provokes the production of special antibodies called antitoxins.  The antitoxins produced may be used in immunization to protect against the disease as with tetanus and diphtheria.   An endotoxin is contained within the bacterial cell and only released when the organism dies and decays.  Endotoxins do not provoke antitoxin production.