Definition

The occurrence of being infected by two different viruses or organisms at the same time.

Example

The patient was diagnosed with coinfection, having both the flu and a bacterial infection.

Conversation

I read an article about coinfection and how it affects people.

Oh really? What did it say about it?

It mentioned that having two viruses at once can make recovery harder.

That makes sense; I guess the body has to fight off double the trouble!

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Coinfection is formed from "co-" (meaning together) and "infection" (from Latin "infectio", meaning to infect). The term describes the simultaneous infection of a host by multiple pathogens.

Memory Tip

Think of 'together' ('co-') causing an 'infection' — that's why coinfection means being infected by more than one pathogen at the same time.

Visually Confused Words