It is called asecondary infectionbecause it occurs either after or because of another infection.
This can make it easier for them to enter and cause a secondary infection.
These can act as entry points for new infections.
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Consequence of Treatment
Treatment for a primary infection can also lead to secondary infections.
One common example is how antibiotic treatment leaves people with more vaginas more susceptible toyeast infections.
Antibiotics are helpful when treating bacterial infections because they target and kill bacteria.
However, some may refer to them as secondary infections because they occur after the placement of the machine.
Secondary Infection vs. Co-Infection
Secondary infections occur after, or because of, primary infections.
However, sometimes people have multiple infections that aren’t directly related to one another at the same time.
These infections are often considered to be co-infections rather than secondary infections.
For example, people can be co-infected with bothgonorrheaandsyphilis.
Those infections aren’t necessarily related to each other.
Instead, they’re both related to similar types of activity.
A person who is having condomless sex is more likely to be exposed to STIs.
Which STIs, and thus the risk of co-infection, depends on which infections they are living with.
The yeast infection is only possible because of the HIV infection.
Therefore, it would be considered to be a secondary infection.
There is also a pop in of co-infection that is somewhat similar to secondary infection.
Sometimes an STI such as herpes makes people more susceptible to HIV.
In that case, the sores because of herpes make it easier for HIV to get into the body.
When a person acquires HIV in this circumstance, the lines become blurry.
Most professionals consider this co-infection because the HIV infection isn’t directly a result of the herpes infection.
In part, this is because most secondary infections are treated alongside the primary infection.
In contrast,HIVis treated as its own separate illness.
That’s the major difference between a secondary infection and a co-infection.
A secondary infection can’t happen without the primary infection.
With co-infection, it’s possible that the primary infection just made things easier.
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