潜伏期

• 読み: せんぷくき
• ローマ字: senpukuki
• 漢字の分解: 潜伏 (senpuku) — latency, lying dormant; 期 (ki) — period, phase
• 発音: /seɱ.pɯ.kɯ.ki/

意味

Incubation period; latent period. The interval between exposure to a pathogen and the appearance of first symptoms.

A medical and epidemiological noun formed from 潜伏 (latency, lying dormant) and 期 (period). Crucially, during the 潜伏期 a person may be infectious without knowing it, which makes this concept central to outbreak management. Used interchangeably with 潜伏期間 in clinical and journalistic language.

例文

1. このウイルスの潜伏期は感染後2日から14日とされている。
2. 潜伏期中は症状が現れないため、感染に気づかないことが多い。
3. 接触者全員に潜伏期が過ぎるまで自宅待機が求められた。

使い方ガイド

場面: medicine, epidemiology, infectious disease, public health

トーン: technical, clinical

起源と歴史

Sino-Japanese compound: 潜伏 (senpuku) means to lurk or remain dormant, derived from 潜 (submerge, conceal) and 伏 (lie prostrate, hide). 期 (ki) denotes a span of time or phase. The term was established in Japanese medical terminology in the Meiji era.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: Adult

社会的背景: Universal