An infection happens when germs like bacteria, viruses, or fungi enter the body and start to grow, often causing sickness. It can lead to symptoms like fever, pain, or swelling.
It comes from Latin “infectio,” from “inficere” (to stain, to taint, to corrupt). The medical sense developed as people understood that diseases are caused by tiny invading agents.
Infection is basically an invasion on a microscopic scale—tiny organisms turning your body into their home. Your immune system is constantly fighting off small infections you never even notice. The word reminds us that “getting sick” is really a battle between living things at a scale we can’t see.
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