usually in singularUsed to refer to the person identified as the first carrier of a communicable disease in an outbreak of related cases.
patient zero for the outbreak was suspected to be a 2-year-old boy
Compare with index case
epidemiologists know who Patient Zero is, and they have him in isolation
figurative she was patient zero in a cyberbullying epidemic
Example sentencesExamples
As any parent of schoolgoing kids knows, headlice outbreaks are fairly common, and targeting Patient Zero is usually impossible.
Patient Zero was a grandmother in New Delhi whose lungs filled up with fluid from trying to fight the flu.
Part of the reason that we went to this area and identified patient zero was because when you start to look at the origins, where this all started, you might get some clues and learn some lessons.
The "patient zero" behind the announcement in New York has suggested that his initial HIV infection occurred in late October 2004.
How exactly that jump happened and what it meant in terms of human-to-human transmission still is not entirely clear, although once you start locating this Patient Zero and some of the earliest patients, you can look.
The GP suspected she had the virus and sent her by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which confirmed her as Singapore's Patient Zero.
If you understood viruses better you would understand that 'patient zero' usually has a strong immunity to the virus if they aren't completely immune.
They have found patient zero, apparently the first case of swine flu now identified at a hog farm in Peratti, Mexico.
With meningitis outbreaks, he said, there is no "patient zero."
It will help MSF efforts to identify the outbreak's patient zero - and hence where the Ebola outbreak originated.
Definition of patient zero in US English:
patient zero
noun
US
usually in singularUsed to refer to the person identified as the first carrier of a communicable disease in an outbreak of related cases.
patient zero for the outbreak was suspected to be a 2-year-old boy
Compare with index case
epidemiologists know who Patient Zero is, and they have him in isolation
figurative she was patient zero in a cyberbullying epidemic
Example sentencesExamples
They have found patient zero, apparently the first case of swine flu now identified at a hog farm in Peratti, Mexico.
The GP suspected she had the virus and sent her by ambulance to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which confirmed her as Singapore's Patient Zero.
As any parent of schoolgoing kids knows, headlice outbreaks are fairly common, and targeting Patient Zero is usually impossible.
If you understood viruses better you would understand that 'patient zero' usually has a strong immunity to the virus if they aren't completely immune.
With meningitis outbreaks, he said, there is no "patient zero."
It will help MSF efforts to identify the outbreak's patient zero - and hence where the Ebola outbreak originated.
Part of the reason that we went to this area and identified patient zero was because when you start to look at the origins, where this all started, you might get some clues and learn some lessons.
The "patient zero" behind the announcement in New York has suggested that his initial HIV infection occurred in late October 2004.
How exactly that jump happened and what it meant in terms of human-to-human transmission still is not entirely clear, although once you start locating this Patient Zero and some of the earliest patients, you can look.
Patient Zero was a grandmother in New Delhi whose lungs filled up with fluid from trying to fight the flu.