focal infection
- noun
- /ˈfoʊkəl ɪnˈfɛkʃən/
- Specialized
:
infección focal
- The doctor suspected the patient’s arthritis was triggered by a focal infection in the tonsils.
Examples
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The doctor diagnosed her with a focal infection.
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Untreated dental abscesses can sometimes lead to a focal infection that affects other organs.
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Research has shown that a focal infection may contribute to chronic health problems.
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He suffers from multiple focal infections in his sinuses.
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The dentist explained that his toothache was likely caused by a focal infection in the gums.
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Doctors are concerned that her sinus problems could be due to a focal infection in the nasal passages.
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After thorough examination, the physician diagnosed him with a focal infection that was affecting his overall health.
Synonyms
594
3.1
Harmful germs enter the body and make you sick
How Localized
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
6.3
256
3.6
- Specialized
70
6.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward combination of 'focal' (relating to a focus or centre, i.e. localized) and 'infection' (an illness caused by microbes), so a learner who knows both words can infer it means an infection confined to a particular site. This is a compositional, cross-linguistically common medical phrasing (though the full clinical nuance about producing distant symptoms is specialized), so it is transparently interpretable by B1 learners who know the constituents.
Etymology
The medical term focal infection comes from the image of one bad spot in the body: focal means a single spot and infection means germs that cause harm. Like a small fire that sends smoke into other rooms, a focal infection is one local infection that causes problems in other parts of the body, so it means 'an infection in one place that affects other places'.