immunity gap
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.80 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The time period during which a young mammal no longer receives effective immunity to diseases from antibodies in its mother's milk but its own immune system is not fully developed.
noun
The time period between when an individual's or a population's immunity to a virus has waned (due to normal decrease in immune response over time or to the development of a new strain of the virus) and before a new vaccine can be given to boost immunity.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see immunity, gap.
Example Sentences
- "The entry of E. coli in a protein-rich medium into the small intestine, which has a damaged surface from the switch to solid feed, at a time when the pig's immune response is normally low (the immunity gap), presents a high risk for a secretory diarrhea."
- "The actual age at which the immunity gap develops depends on the amount of maternally derived antibody (MDA) transferred to each kitten."
- "Prior to this, young animals face an 'immunity gap': passive immunity is reduced and the animal's own immune system is not yet fully capable of combating pathogens."
- "However, an immunity gap in adults coupled with the presence of large numbers of susceptible children and adolescents creates the potential for an extensive epidemic."
- "Thus with the usual booster (third dose) at 5-6 months there is only a small risk of an immunity gap."
- "While prior studies in Pakistan indicated near universal exposure to hepatitis A by age 14 years, the incidence of acute hepatitis A among adults has increased in recent years, indicating an immunity gap."
Inflected Forms
immunity gaps (plural)