Definition

A method used to diagnose an infectious disease by exposing a potentially infected person or tissue to a clean insect, like a mosquito, and then checking the insect for the disease-causing germs.

Example

The doctor used xenodiagnosis to determine if the patient had the infection by observing the mosquitoes that fed on them.

Conversation

Have you heard about xenodiagnosis?

Yeah, I read it’s used to diagnose certain infections.

It's fascinating how they use insects for testing.

I know, right? It's such a clever method!

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Xenodiagnosis → It is formed from "xeno-" (from Greek "xenos", meaning foreign) and "diagnosis" (from Greek "diagnōsis", meaning discernment or judgment). The term refers to the process of diagnosing a disease by exposing a host to a foreign organism, typically a parasite, to observe any resulting infection.

Memory Tip

Think of 'foreign' ('xeno-') and 'discernment' ('diagnosis') to remember that xenodiagnosis involves diagnosing by observing how a foreign organism affects a host.

Visually Confused Words