puerperal fever


nounPathology.
  1. a systemic bacterial infection of the endometrium characterized by fever, rapid heartbeat, uterine tenderness, and malodorous discharge, chiefly occurring in women after childbirth, usually as the result of unsterile obstetric procedures.

Origin of puerperal fever

1
First recorded in 1760–70

Words Nearby puerperal fever

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How to use puerperal fever in a sentence

  • In epidemics of puerperal fever this form of erysipelas has been specially found to prevail.

  • A woman who had been recently confined lay there raving in puerperal fever.

    The Dop Doctor | Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
  • It is not pretended that the contagion of puerperal fever must always be followed by the disease.

    Medical Essays | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
  • He was at the examination of a case of puerperal fever at two o'clock in the afternoon.

    Medical Essays | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
  • In June, 1823, he assisted some of his pupils at the autopsy of a case of puerperal fever.

    Medical Essays | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

British Dictionary definitions for puerperal fever

puerperal fever

noun
  1. a serious, formerly widespread, form of blood poisoning caused by infection contracted during childbirth

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