index case
the first documented instance of a disease or other medical condition in a population, especially the first infection in an epidemic.
(loosely) index patient.
Origin of index case
1Words Nearby index case
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use index case in a sentence
Yet the suspected index cases — the people who likely spread the virus to others — tested negative for the virus a couple of days before boarding their plane in Switzerland and thought they weren’t infected.
Why a negative Covid-19 test before Thanksgiving isn’t an all-clear | Brian Resnick | November 23, 2020 | VoxInvestigators have also found that in cases of mass hysteria, one child is often an “index case” that triggers waves of anxiety.
British Dictionary definitions for index case
med the first case of a disease, or the primary case referred to in a report
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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