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Papule: a basic and dry lesion of the skin which protrudes more or less with variable color and is less than 5 millimeters in diameter.
Patch-test or Epidermal-test: a skin test designed to screen for sensitization to an allergen. This test is most often used in cases of contact allergy. Allergens are diluted in aqueous form or in vaseline and applied to the healthy skin of the back. An occlusive dressing is obtained using a hypoallergenic adhesive tape and the reaction is read at 20 minutes, 48 and 72 (96) hours.
Pathogens: microorganisms which can cause disease and determine infection. They are viruses, certain bacteria and certain microscopic fungi.
Peanut: a tropical plant (Papilionacea) cultivated for its fruit (grains).
Pharyngo-laryngeal Junction: junction between the pharynx and the larynx.
Phototherapy: method of treatment of a disease by light, visible or invisible, on the skin.
Plasma : the fluid part of blood.
Plasma Cell: an immune cell which secretes many immunoglobulines (one type of immunoglobuline per plasma cell) which participate in the body's defense mechanisms. The plasma cell is the result of the conversion of a B-lymphocyte after stimulation by an antigen.
Pollen: a microscopic granule produced by flowers of phanerogam plants, it involves the male agent of fertilization.
Pollinosis: any allergic disorder caused by pollen which has a seasonal course.
Polymorphonuclear Cell (Leukocyte): a white blood cell characterized by a nucleus with several lobes and specific granulations. It can be "basophil", "eosinophil" or "neutrophil".
Polyp: tumor, most often a benign tumor, generally with a pedicle which develops on the mucosa of the body's natural cavities.
Polyposis: disorder characterized by the development of several polyps.
Prevalence: number of cases of disease or of any other medical event recorded in a given population and covering both new cases as well as old cases.
Prick-test: skin test designed to screen for an allergen. To perform this test, a drop of allergen is deposited on the skin and then a fine prick-mark is made with the point of a needle through the drop. The reaction is read after 20 minutes.
Prurigo: cutaneous disease characterized by intense itching and an eruption of vesicles, which when scratched, open quickly and become covered by a temporary crust. The treatment depends on the disorder in question.
Pruritus: this involves skin itching which can be systemic or localized to a part of the body.
Pseudo-Allergy: a reaction of the body whose symptoms are similar to those of allergy but whose cause are not immunological. Pseudo-Allergy is caused for example by foods containing histamine or releasing histamine during the chemical transformations of digestion. This term is tending to be abandoned by physicians to the benefit of the term "Hypersensitivity". The term Allergic Hypersensitivity (or Allergy) is used whenever an immunological mechanism has been demonstrated and Non-Allergic Hypersensitivity when it hasn't been demonstrated.
Pus: pathological production of a fluid, of
greater or lesser thickness, serousness and opacity, and
produced during inflammation. It contains white blood cells that
are altered or not, cells or cellular debris from tissue
surrounding the area of suppuration and viable or dead
microorganisms.