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The epidemiology of colonization

Abstract

Colonization is the presence of a microorganism in or on a host, with growth and multiplication but without any overt clinical expression or detected immune response in the host at the time it is isolated. Normal colonization in humans begins during the birth process and through subsequent contacts with the inanimate or animate environments until a delicately balanced “normal” flora is established; subsequently, the precise components of this flora evolve.… Read more