Superinfection
Superinfection
Superinfection (pronunciation: soo-per-in-fek-shun) is a medical term used to describe a secondary infection that occurs during or after treatment for a primary infection due to the destruction of the body's normal flora by antibiotics.
Etymology
The term "superinfection" is derived from the Latin word "super" meaning "above" or "over" and the Latin word "infectio" meaning "to taint" or "to dye".
Definition
A superinfection is an infection that is superimposed on an earlier one, especially by a different microbial agent of exogenous or endogenous origin, that is resistant to the treatment used against the first infection.
Related Terms
- Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are not normally present within the body.
- Antibiotics: Drugs that fight infections caused by bacteria.
- Flora: The bacteria and other microorganisms that live in a particular environment, such as the human body.
- Microorganism: A microscopic organism, especially a bacterium, virus, or fungus.
- Bacteria: A type of biological cell that constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms.
- Virus: A small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism.
- Parasite: An organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Superinfection
- Wikipedia's article - Superinfection
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski