infection incidence/prevalence measurement viral infection incidence/prevalence measurement 2014-05-16T12:51:12Z Any measurement in which the number of individuals in a study population that display a viral infection at a point in time or develop a viral infection within a determined period of time are compared to the total number of individuals in the study population. Often expressed as a percentage but could be expressed as a ratio. Viral infection is infection with a virus, a generally submicroscopic agent that lacks independent metabolism and is able to replicate only within a living host cell; the individual particle (virion) consists of nucleic acid (nucleoid) comprised of either DNA or RNA but not both, a protein shell (capsid), and in some but not all cases, a membranous envelope. CMO:0002360 JSmith MESH:D014777 clinical_measurement_ontology viral disease incidence/prevalence measurement virus infection incidence/prevalence measurement