latent period
Delay before symptoms
The latent period is the time between exposure to something and the appearance of its effects.
In medicine, it's the interval between infection and symptom onset: The latent period for HIV can last years.
In physiology, it's the brief delay between a stimulus and muscle contraction.
The term appears wherever cause precedes visible effect by some measurable duration.
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- dormantInactive but capable
- delayEnforced waiting period
- waiting gameStrategy of deliberate delay
- onsetStarting point of something
gestation · prodromal · asymptomatic · under the radar · brewing · silent · simmering · slow burn · virus · infection · exposure · patient zero · symptom · early warning · waiting · ticking clock · hidden · time bomb
latent periodinfectious period
Time of active contagiousness
acute phase · outbreak · viremia · bacteremia
latent, latency, latently, period, periodic, periodical, periodically, periodicity, periods