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Public Health & Epidemiology vocabulary · Prevention and Vaccination

Eradication

Meaning in public health & epidemiology, with examples

/ɪˌrædɪˈkeɪʃn/nounCommon term

In public health & epidemiology, eradication means: Permanently reducing the worldwide incidence of an infection to zero, so that control measures are no longer needed anywhere.

In Turkish: eradikasyon, hastalığın kökünün kazınması

How it is used

Smallpox, declared eradicated in 1980, is the only human disease eradicated so far; polio is close. 'Elimination' is narrower: stopping transmission in one country or region, as many countries have done with measles or malaria.

Example sentences

  1. The global eradication of smallpox is often called the greatest achievement of public health.

  2. The polio eradication programme now focuses on the last few places where the wild virus circulates.

Common collocations

  • polio eradication
  • disease eradication
  • eradicate a disease
  • elimination
  • vaccinationGiving a vaccine to a person so that their immune system learns to protect them against a specific infectious disease.
  • endemicDescribes a disease that is always present in a particular area or population at a fairly constant, expected level.
  • herd immunityIndirect protection that happens when enough people in a community are immune to an infection, so it cannot spread easily and even unprotected people are less likely to catch it.
  • WHOShort for the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency for international public health, founded in 1948 and based in Geneva.

More terms: Prevention and Vaccination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.