bacterial infection

Cultural  

1. An infection caused by bacteria. The growth of many disease-causing bacteria can be halted by the use of antibiotics. (Compare viral infection.)

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Diseases caused by bacterial infections include diphtheria, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever.

Example Sentences

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks, and affects an estimated 476,000 Americans each year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

A deadly virus and bacterial infection have killed at least 72 tigers at a private animal park in Thailand's north in recent weeks, authorities said.

From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026

The study, published in Nature Chemical Biology, shows that an antibody created in the laboratory was able to eliminate a normally fatal bacterial infection in mice.

From Science Daily • Feb. 6, 2026

Her stomach issues also have not improved, and a doctor in Colombia has diagnosed her with a severe bacterial infection.

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2026

Thinking that he might have some kind of bacterial infection, they gave him injections of antibiotics, but the antibiotics had no effect on his illness.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston