There’s no shortage of jargon when it comes to discuss issues around vaccination, so we’ve compiled a list explaining commonly terms to help demystify the subject.
Glossary
Pandemic
A worldwide epidemic of a disease.
Pathogen
An agent of disease such as a virus or bacterium.
Preservative
Compounds that help kill or prevent the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi. In vaccines, preservatives are used to prevent the growth of bugs arising from accidental contamination.
Prevalence
The total number of cases of the disease in a population at a given time, or the total number of cases in the population, dived by the number of individuals in the population. Prevalence is used to estimate how common a condition is within a population over a certain period of time. (Not to be confused with incidence.)
