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su·per·in·fec·tion -in-'fek-shən n a second infection superimposed on an earlier one esp. by a different microbial agent of exogenous or endogenous origin that is resistant to the treatment used against the first infection
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n.
an infection arising during the course of another infection and caused by a different microorganism, which is usually resistant to the drugs used to treat the primary infection. The infective agent may be a normally harmless inhabitant of the body that becomes pathogenic when other harmless types are removed by the drugs or it may be a resistant variety of the primary infective agent, such as MRSA (see also methicillin).
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su·per·in·fec·tion (soo″pər-in-fekґshən) a new infection occurring in a patient having a preexisting one, such as bacterial superinfection in viral respiratory disease or infection of a chronic hepatitis B carrier with hepatitis D virus. Superinfection can complicate the course of antimicrobial therapy when the new infection is by organisms resistant to the drugs in use.Medical dictionary. 2011.