pre-exposure

adjective

pre-ex·​po·​sure ˌprē-ik-ˈspō-zhər 

variants or less commonly preexposure

: occurring, administered, used, or being in the period preceding exposure (as to a stimulus or a pathogen)

pre-exposure rabies vaccination

Canon has also added a red-eye reduction pre-exposure light …

—Herbert Keppler

see also pre-exposure prophylaxis

pre-exposure noun

Rats differ from monkeys and chicks in that simultaneous pre-exposure to two stimuli does facilitate their subsequent discrimination …

—R. A. Hinde

Examples of pre-exposure in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That waiver ostensibly meant that pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — the antiretroviral drug that prevents the transmission of HIV — would be distributed through PEPFAR. —Samantha Riedel, Them, 12 Feb. 2025

This means the critical pre-exposure prophylaxis medication treatment, condom services, or any behavioral or educational programs still won’t be up and running. —Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 8 Feb. 2025

Although decades of research have led to effective treatments and pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) drugs that have dramatically reduced the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, completely wiping the virus out has remained out of reach. —Bymeagan Cantwell, science.org, 13 Dec. 2024

Sullivan, whose work focuses on HIV surveillance, compared the government’s actions to, effectively, destroying the road map to determining who in America most needs screening, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and treatment. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 31 Jan. 2025

In 2023, more than 20 million people, including 500,000 children, were on antiretroviral therapy with help from the program, and almost 2 million were newly enrolled on pre-exposure preventative medications. —Belinda Luscombe, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025

Citing religious freedom, a federal judge ruled in 2022 that a Christian business did not have to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention as part of its health care offerings. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 28 Jan. 2025

The Supreme Court is set to decide whether health insurance companies are required to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). —Abby Monteil, Them, 13 Jan. 2025

However, those taking medications to treat HIV or pre-exposure prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis drugs will still be ineligible. —Frank Gluck, The Tennessean, 16 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

pre-exposure

adjective

pre-ex·​po·​sure -ik-ˈspō-zhər 

variants preexposure

: of, relating to, occurring in, or being the period preceding exposure (as to a stimulus or a pathogen)

pre-exposure immunization