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

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

The family of Tony Dynes, another cancer patient who died aged 63 in May 2021, have revealed he also had an aspergillus fungal infection, as well as the same bacterial infection as Milly Main.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026

The great contemporary achievement of modern medicine is the technology for controlling and preventing bacterial infection, but this did not fall into our laps with the appearance of penicillin and the sulfonamides.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas