Akademik

Incubation period

In medicine, the time from the moment of exposure to an infectious agent until signs and symptoms of the disease appear. For example, the incubation period of chickenpox is 14-16 days. In biology, the incubation period is the time needed for any particular process of development to take place. For example, the length of time for turtle eggs to hatch is the incubation period.

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incubation period n the period between the infection of an individual by a pathogen and the manifestation of the disease it causes

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(latent period)

1. the interval between exposure to an infection and the appearance of the first symptoms.

2. (in bacteriology) the period of development of a bacterial culture.

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1. the interval of time required for development. 2. the interval between the receipt of infection and the onset of the consequent illness or the first symptoms of the illness (prodromal stage). 3. the interval between the entrance into a vector of an infectious agent and the time at which the vector is capable of transmitting the infection. See also generation time (def. 1), under time. Called also latent p.

Medical dictionary. 2011.