Crossword Genius

Fight with disease in the beginning, in hospital room (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ward

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'hospital room' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'fight with disease in the beginning' is the wordplay.
'fight' becomes 'war' (warring is a kind of fighting).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'disease in the beginning' becomes 'd' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'war'+'d'='WARD'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ward that I've seen before include "Old guard" , "Division of borough" , "number of patients" , "Councillor's area" , "zone for votes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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