 Hey everybody, Dr. O'Hare. I want to talk about a couple more important terms right here, primary versus secondary infection. I'm also going to talk about what an opportunistic infection is as well. So a primary infection is an acute infection that you get that makes you sick, right? So obviously primary meaning in this situation would be the first infection that you get. A secondary infection, like the name implies, is an infection you get after you're already sick and these would be called opportunistic infections. So let's start there. Let's talk about what an opportunistic infection is and when they become a problem. So an opportunistic infection is a type of secondary infection that occurs for one of two reasons. Opportunistic infections occur when a pathogen gets in the wrong location. So let's say we have like a burn or a surgery or something that would allow microbes to get into the wrong location. That could lead to one of these opportunistic infections. But in this context, we're primarily talking about compromise hosts. So the primary infection compromises you and your immune system, which allows the secondary infection to take hold. So a good example of this would be like the flu and then like secondary bacterial infections. So the primary infection will be the flu, which damages your respiratory system, damages the epithelial cells of your respiratory system, which can release chemicals into the environment and impair your immune system. That is going to allow some of these bacteria, like streptococcus pneumonia, for example, to come in and cause a secondary infection. And that's why someone might start with having the flu and then develop one of these bacterial infections that can lead to pneumonia, can lead to sepsis or even meningitis. So these would be examples of secondary infections you can get after getting that initial primary infection, which would have been the flu. Now personally, I'm not a big fan of the term secondary infection because for a year, I mean, I know it's true and it happens, but for years, we use the term secondary infection as a reason to prescribe over prescribed antibiotics, to prescribe antibiotics for viral infections and these types of things. So I definitely want you to know that secondary infections are real, but they are way less common than you might think. And obviously if somebody has a primary infection, you should be monitoring them for signs of a secondary infection, and that might be when you'd want to consider using antibiotics, but giving antibiotics to everyone with a flu, which is a viral common cold, which is viral, ear infections, sore throats, these types of things. Unless you know someone has a bacterial infection, I'm not a huge fan of giving them antibiotics. That's how we've been misusing and abusing and overusing antibiotics for so long that it's destroying their curative powers. So I want to make it clear secondary infections are real, but I'm not a big fan of the term just because it's led to a lot of abusive antibiotics in the past. All right, so those are primary versus secondary infections, then also make sure you remember opportunistic infections, infections that occur when a pathogen or a microbe gets in the wrong location or in a compromised host like in this example. All right, have a wonderful day. Be blessed.