Superinfection


Nature

Superinfection is infection of an already infected person by a more virulent strain of the infective agent, such as a virus. It counters the general principle in medicine that infection protects against infection -- that if a person with an infective disease, they is protected from contracting a worse form of that disease.

Incidence

Superinfection has been documented for HIV in humans. It is likely to reduce the effectiveness of an eventual vaccine against AIDS.


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