prepatentadj.
/priːˈpeɪtnt/, U.S. /priˈpeɪtnt/ Medicine.
Designating the period between parasitic infection of a host and the time when the parasite can first be detected or recovered.
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1926 R. W. Hegner in Q. Rev. Biol. 1 399/1 The prepatent period extends from the time the infective parasites enter the body of the host until their offspring can be recovered by the usual laboratory methods.
1976 Nature 15 July 214/2 This highly virulent strain has a prepatent period of 8–14 d in mice.
1987 E. W. Burr Compan. Bird Med. xx. 121/2 The prepatent period takes 14–21 days; only gametocytes are found in peripheral blood.
2004 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 15 May 37 Large numbers of producers do not have worming programmes based on the prepatent period of these costly parasites.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1926