| opportunistic infection n. An infection by a microorganism that normally does not cause disease but becomes pathogenic when the body's immune system is impaired and unable to fight off infection. |
opportunistic infection ( p  r-t -n s tk) An infection by a microorganism that normally does not cause disease but does so when lowered resistance to infection is caused by the impairment of the body's immune system. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | opportunistic infection - any infection caused by a microorganism that does not normally cause disease in humans; occurs in persons with abnormally functioning immune systems (as AIDS patients or transplant patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs) infection - the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms aspergillosis - an opportunistic infection by a fungus of the genus Aspergillus; characterized by inflammation and lesions of the ear and other organs |
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