infectadas

Infectadas is the feminine plural form of the Spanish adjective infectado, used to describe individuals or organisms that have acquired an infection. It can function as a noun phrase, las infectadas, to refer to women or to feminine plural groups who are infected. The masculine equivalent is infectados, and the term is commonly found in clinical or epidemiological texts as a way to specify infection status without naming a pathogen.

In medical and public health contexts, infectadas denotes people who show evidence of infection, such as clinical symptoms or laboratory confirmation. It is not a disease itself; rather, it characterizes a condition within a population, for example during an outbreak when researchers report the number of infectadas to indicate disease burden or to track transmission dynamics.

From a linguistic perspective, infectadas reflects gender agreement in Spanish. In mixed-gender groups or when the gender is unknown, masculine forms are often used; some authors prefer inclusive wording—such as personas infectadas or individuos infectados—to avoid gender-specific terms.

Related concepts include infección, contagio, and epidemiología. The term's usage varies by country and context, but in most medical texts it serves as a neutral label for infected individuals without implying severity or prognosis.