postinfectious

adjective

post·​in·​fec·​tious ˌpōst-in-ˈfek-shəs 

: occurring after and especially as a result of an infection

postinfectious encephalitis

a postinfectious cough

Examples of postinfectious in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Because postinfectious cough is so common, doctors have long worked to determine how many people have a cough that persists after their other symptoms go away. —The Conversation, Fortune, 13 Feb. 2023

There are precedents for this kind of postinfectious, noncritical illness, such as posttreatment Lyme disease. —Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science | AAAS, 13 Apr. 2021

In other words, long Covid may simply be the latest example of a postinfectious phenomenon that has mystified physicians for more than a century. —New York Times, 21 Jan. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

postinfectious

adjective

post·​in·​fec·​tious -in-ˈfek-shəs 

variants or post-infectious

: relating to or occurring in the period following infection : caused by a previous infection

postinfectious syndromes

Estimates of the annual incidence of idiopathic or postinfectious transverse myelitis range from 1.3 to 8 cases per million.

—Elliot M. Frohman et al.