##  [Germ Theory of Disease](/germ-theory-disease) 

  ##  [Germ Theory of Disease](https://health.quantumdictionary.io/germ-theory-disease-0) 

  

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**Health & Life Sciences Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

The biomedical principle that many diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) whose presence, growth, or products can produce characteristic pathological states in susceptible hosts; it contrasts with explanations that attribute disease solely to spontaneous generation or noninfectious environmental miasmas.