Topic: toxemia

toxemia , disease state caused by the presence in the blood of bacterial toxins or other harmful substances. The effects of the bacterial toxins known as endotoxins are relatively uniform, regardless of which bacterial species the toxin comes from, and are separate from the effects caused by the infecting bacterium itself. A small amount of endotoxin (released by dead bacteria) produces one or more fever episodes, thought to be caused by release of a fever-inducing substance from damaged white blood cells. Large quantities of endotoxin cause shock and death. Exotoxins are proteins released... Read more