infection

plural infections

1. countableuncountablemedicineThe act or process of infecting.
2. countableuncountableAn uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.

   1 more example

   An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.

   2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)

3. countableuncountableA disease caused by such presence of a pathogen.

   And researchers at the National Institutes of Health report finding candidalike fungus infections in the blood of AIDS victims.

   1988 January 22, Robert McClory, “The Yeast of Our Problems”, in Chicago Reader

   2 more examples

   As the previously used chemotherapeutic agents have only proved themselves to be spirochetostatic and not spirochetocidal, the patient is liable to a delayed infection which may not become manifest for years.

   1944, Cedric C. Carpenter, “Failure of penicillin to prevent syphilis”, in United States Naval Medical Bulletin, volume 43, number 2, pages 389–390

   It has been reported that periparturient cows undergo a period of immunosuppression of various immunological parameters associated with a high susceptibility to uterine and mammary infections […]

   2015 August 29, “Different Blood Cell-Derived Transcriptome Signatures in Cows Exposed to Vaccination Pre- or Postpartum”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI

   Synonyms: infectious disease

4. countableuncountableA visible sign of such a disease, such as the suppuration of a wound.