Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The initial
patient in thepopulation of anepidemiological investigation .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Originally patient O (standing for out of California), referring to Gaëtan Dugas, a superspreader of AIDS. The letter O was later misinterpreted as a zero.
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