Definition of URI

URI: Commonly used abbreviation for Upper Respiratory Infection, an infection in the respiratory tract shy of the lungs.

(Do not confuse a URI with a UTI which stands for Urinary Tract Infection).

A URI can be due to a large number of different viral and bacterial infections. These infections may affect any part of the upper respiratory tract including the:

• nasopharynx (nasopharyngitis),
• throat (pharyngitis),
• larynx (laryngitis),
• trachea (tracheitis) and
• bronchi (bronchitis).

Pneumonia, by definition, involves the lungs and is not part of a URI. Sinusitis (infection of the sinuses) is essentially a type of URI.

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