What is superinfection and examples?
Superinfection is the process by which a cell that has previously been infected by one virus gets co-infected with a different strain of the virus, or another virus, at a later point in time. Viral superinfections may be resistant to the antiviral drug or drugs that were being used to treat the original infection.
What does superinfection mean in medicine?
Medical Definition of superinfection : a second infection 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.
How do you treat superinfection?
Therapy. Patients with measles should be given supportive therapy, such as antipyretics and fluids as indicated. Bacterial superinfection should be promptly treated with appropriate antimicrobials, but prophylactic antibiotics to prevent superinfection are of no known value and are therefore not recommended.
What are the symptoms of a superinfection?
Symptoms. As many as 90% of infected patients may be asymptomatic. Common symptoms are jaundice, dark urine, abdominal pain, fever, and nausea with emesis. Confusion, bruising, bleeding, and encephalopathy are rare.
What is the most common superinfection?
The microorganisms most frequently implicated in the development of superinfection were: Candida spp. (42.3%), Enterococcus spp. (18.8%), enterobacteria (13.8%), Staphylococcus spp. (9.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.6%), and Clostridium difficile (4.1%).
What is a mixed infection?
In clinical bacteriology what we usually mean by a mixed infection is where a single infection is caused by a variety of bacterial species which are simultaneous causing the same infection. For example: peritonitis cased by all kinds of different gut bacteria and yeasts.
What is the general cause of superinfection?
Antibiotic-associated (or Clostridium difficile-associated) colitis. is an example of a superinfection. It is caused by alteration of the normal bowel flora, which allows multiplication of Clostridium difficile which releases several toxins that damage the mucosa of the bowel and promote excretion of fluid.
Why does sepsis occur in hospitals?
Sepsis is caused by the body’s response to an infection, but it can overwhelm and prevent a patient’s recovery. It can lead to septic shock, which causes blood pressure to drop and can kill the patient. But this isn’t easily preventable if patients have other complex conditions at the same time, researchers wrote.
When does superinfection complicate the course of antimicrobial therapy?
Superinfection can complicate the course of antimicrobial therapy when the organisms causing the new infection are resistant to the drugs being used to treat the first infection.
Which is the best description of a superinfection?
In virology, the definition is slightly different. Superinfection is the process by which a cell that has previously been infected by one virus gets co-infected with a different strain of the virus, or another virus, at a later point in time. Viral superinfections may be resistant to the antiviral drug or drugs…
Why are superinfections a reason to avoid antibiotics?
– ReAct One reason to avoid taking unnecessary antibiotics is that antibiotic treatment puts you at risk for additional infections – so called superinfections. Such infections are unrelated to the first infection for which the antibiotic was originally taken.
Can a superinfection cause diarrhea and death?
Superinfections range from mild infections that do not need further treatment to very severe infections that can lead to death Clostridioides difficile can cause severe, even deadly, diarrhea.
