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

When taken regularly, pre-exposure prophylaxis medications like Truvada and Descovy offer significant protection to uninfected people. —Dave Wessner, Forbes, 1 Dec. 2024

The subsequent approval of the HIV-prevention pill — called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — in 2012 only hastened the decline. —Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024

Similar algorithms have been developed in Kenya and Uganda to help determine ideal candidates for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). —Jennifer Lotito, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024

To be fair, researchers did conduct a clinical trial of doxy PEP in cisgender women, but its outcomes were affected by the same issue that plagued early clinical trials of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender women. —Oni Blackstock and Whitney C. Irie, STAT, 22 July 2024

Now, two new studies have helped expand the conversation about doxycycline, to ask whether taking just 100 mg of the antibiotic daily — as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or doxyPrEP — might afford a more optimal balance of risks versus benefits for some people. —Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 18 July 2024

The development of once-a-day pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), drugs like Truvada and Descovy signified a huge advance in HIV medicine. —New Atlas, 15 July 2024

Developing long-acting ways of treating HIV has become a major focus in efforts to manage the virus, including to prevent infection, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. —Robert Hart, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

Post-exposure vaccination should be administered as soon as possible to anyone with a known or likely exposure to rabies, including those who received pre-exposure protection. —Dalia Faheid, CNN, 14 Feb. 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