Which of the following correctly describes what the video referred to as a 'microbial cure'?

• A. The development of vaccines using inactivated viruses.
• B. The process of sterilizing medical equipment to prevent infection.
• C. The elimination of all microbes from a patient's body using antibiotics.
• D. The use of beneficial microorganisms to treat or prevent disease.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the term 'microbial cure' by breaking down the phrase: 'microbial' refers to microorganisms, and 'cure' implies a treatment or solution to a disease.
2. Recall that in microbiology, a 'microbial cure' often involves using microorganisms themselves as agents to treat or prevent diseases, rather than eliminating all microbes or using inactivated viruses.
3. Evaluate each option by comparing it to the concept of using beneficial microbes: vaccines with inactivated viruses do not use live microbes to cure, sterilization removes microbes but is not a cure, and antibiotics eliminate microbes but are not considered a 'microbial cure' in the sense of using microbes beneficially.
4. Identify that the correct description of a 'microbial cure' is the use of beneficial microorganisms to treat or prevent disease, which aligns with concepts like probiotics or bacteriotherapy.
5. Summarize that the key idea is leveraging helpful microbes to restore health, distinguishing it from methods that kill or inactivate microbes.