secondary infection

IPA/sˈɛkəndəɹi ɪnfˈɛkʃən/
IPA/sˈɛkəndɚɹi ɪnfˈɛkʃən/

secondary infection — 名詞

1. A secondary infection is a new infection that starts while a person already has

1.名詞B2
釋義

繼發性感染

在原有疾病基礎上出現的新感染

A secondary infection is a new infection that starts while a person already has another illness — the body's weaker defenses allow a different germ (bacteria, virus, or fungus) to make the person sick.

例句

After a patient caught the flu, a secondary infection in the lungs made him much sicker.

患者感染流感後，肺部出現繼發性感染，讓他病情加重許多。

shows cause-and-effect: flu weakens body → secondary infection follows

The nurse warned that scratching the chickenpox blisters could cause a secondary infection.

護理師警告說，抓破水痘的水泡可能會引起繼發性感染。

preventable: damaged skin allows germs to enter

同義詞
  • superinfection

    a more technical term, often used when a second infection arises during antibiotic treatment of the first

  • opportunistic infection

    specifically refers to infections that attack when the immune system is weak, such as in HIV or chemotherapy patients

文法句型

a secondary infection

develop a secondary infection

用法筆記

Common in medical contexts. Often used with verbs such as 'cause', 'develop', 'prevent', or 'treat' to describe how a new infection follows a primary illness. The primary illness does not have to be an infection — it can be any condition that weakens the body.

常見錯誤

❌A secondary infection means the patient gets infected twice by the same germ.
✅A secondary infection is a new, different infection that takes advantage of the body's weakened state.
💡'Secondary' refers to timing and cause (following another illness), not a repeat of the same infection.