pre-exposure prophylaxis

noun

variants or less commonly preexposure prophylaxis

plural pre-exposure prophylaxes also preexposure prophylaxes

: a preventive treatment for infections or diseases (such as HIV or rabies) that involves administering one or more drugs to an uninfected person who is at a high risk of exposure to a particular pathogen

If you are in a relationship with someone who has HIV, it's important to talk to your health care provider about what you can do to prevent contracting the disease. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can give you the peace of mind to enjoy your relationship knowing you have taken that precaution.

—Pamela Crain

Travelers should consider preexposure prophylaxis … vaccination if planned activities include encounters with domestic or wild animals, if staying longer than a month in an area where dog rabies is common, or if visiting remote areas where medical care may be delayed.

—Kathryn Lincoln and Jerline Hsin

—abbreviation PrEP compare post-exposure prophylaxis

Examples of pre-exposure prophylaxis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

PrEP uptake, 2017-2022 The usage of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, among Black and Latino people in the U.S. has doubled over the past five years but still lags that of whites. —Benjamin Ryan, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2023

But usage of PrEP, which stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis, has remained low. —Dallas News, 15 Feb. 2023

The drug was developed by AstraZeneca as pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID. —Carla Delgado, Verywell Health, 8 Feb. 2023

The guidelines also restrict donations from people taking medications to prevent HIV infection such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

pre-exposure prophylaxis

noun

variants also preexposure prophylaxis

plural pre-exposure prophylaxes also preexposure prophylaxes

: a preventative treatment for infections or diseases (such as HIV or rabies) that involves administering one or more drugs to an uninfected person who is at a high risk of exposure to a particular pathogen

Although preventing rabies in dogs is the most cost-effective way of preventing human rabies deaths, pre-exposure prophylaxis is valuable for people at a high disease risk, particularly in areas where controlling disease in the animal reservoir is difficult or has not been implemented and in areas where access to postexposure prophylaxis and rabies immunoglobulin is unreliable or nonexistent.

—Jocelyn A. Kessels et al., Bulletin of the World Health Organization

—abbreviation PrEP compare post-exposure prophylaxis