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Ideate:
think of; come up with
CDC Original Sentences:
Do you need to ideate ways to build new and leverage existing partnerships?
Plain Language Sentences:
Do you need to think of ways to build new partnerships and use existing ones?
Entry Last Modified 31 December 2024
Immune system:
body's natural defenses against germs and sickness, body's ability to fight germs and sickness
CDC Original Sentences:
Overall, most serious fungal infections are rare, but they do happen. They are most common among people with weak immune systems. People with certain health conditions may need to take medications with side effects that can weaken your immune system and put you at risk for fungal infections.
Plain Language Sentences:
It's not very often that fungi-living things in soil, on plants and trees, and even in homes and on human skin-make people really sick. But, some people have health problems or take medicines that lower the body's ability to fight germs and sickness. These people are more likely to get sick from fungi.
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Immunization:
Process of protecting (a person or animal) from a disease, usually by an action like giving a vaccine. (See Vaccine)
CDC Original Sentences:
Keeping up-to-date immunization records for your family, especially your children, is important.
Plain Language Sentences:
Keeping up-to-date shot and vaccine records for your family, especially your children, is important because you will need those records to register them for school, child care, athletic teams, and summer camps or to travel.
Entry Notes: Consumer research shows many people know "vaccine" but prefer "shots." Not all vaccines are given as shots.
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Impact:
effect, influence, result
CDC Original Sentences:
This model can serve as a framework for focusing and monitoring broader impact of CDC science, not just for monitoring the impact of individual/single publications/products.
Plain Language Sentences:
This model helps focus and track the broad influence of CDC science, not just those of one publication or product.
Entry Notes: Try to use "impact" as a noun, not a verb. Use "affect" for consequences. When possible, use words like "improve" and "harm," or other words or phrases that provide clear direction and show how something or someone has been affected. For example, "Antibiotic resistance has limited doctors' ability (rather than "affected doctors' ability") to treat certain illnesses."
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Impaired:
driving while influenced by alcohol or drugs; drunk driving; not able to operate fully or properly; disabled; weakened because of other health problems
CDC Original Sentences:
Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
Plain Language Sentences:
Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve a driver who drank too much alcohol to drive safely.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Implement:
apply, set up, put into action, do, carry out, start
CDC Original Sentences:
Search or browse through the Community Health Resources Database to plan, implement, and evaluate community health interventions and programs that address chronic diseases.
Plain Language Sentences:
Search or browse the Community Health Resources Database to plan, carry out, and test the results of community health programs that apply to chronic diseases, meaning those that are long-lasting and usually don't have a cure.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Incidence rate:
how often an event happens in a group of people in a certain period of time.
CDC Original Sentences:
This fact sheet gives an overview of HIV incidence in the United States.
Plain Language Sentences:
This fact sheet gives an overview of how many people in the United States were newly infected with HIV during (insert time period).
Entry Notes: If you are calculating the incidence rate, the denominator is the population at risk and the numerator is the number of new cases in the time period.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Include:
CDC Original Sentences:
Included in these reports are assessments of how well the response operations met objectives, recommendations for correcting gaps or weaknesses, and plans for improving response operations.
Your Exposure Control Plan should include a description of how your facility meets each of the basic elements.
Plain Language Sentences:
These reports summarize how well the response met goals and how to improve future responses.
Your exposure control plan should describe how your workplace meets standards for each of the basic elements.
NOTE: Say the type of workplace
Entry Notes: Try not to use this term because "include" often creates a hidden or extra verb. Notice how the plain language sentences use action verbs instead of "include."
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Incubation period:
time elapsed between a person being infected (when the germ enters the person's body) and the first signs of sickness
CDC Original Sentences:
Based on information we have to date, the incubation period for MERS (time between when a person is exposed to MERS-CoV and when they start to have symptoms) is 2-14 days.
Plain Language Sentences:
After MERS enters a person's body, it takes from 2 to 14 days for that person to show the first signs of being sick, based on what we know so far about MERS.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Individuals:
people, you
CDC Original Sentences:
Individuals who are infected with STDs are at least two to five times more likely than uninfected individuals to acquire HIV infection if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact.
Plain Language Sentences:
Having a sexually transmitted disease (STD) makes it more likely you will get HIV when you have sex with someone who has HIV. You are at least two to five times more likely than someone without an STD to get HIV when you have sex with someone with HIV.
NOTE: It would be important to explain what two to five times means and provide a visual representation.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Infection:
when germs get in the body
CDC Original Sentences:
Most infections with CMV are "silent," meaning most people who are infected with CMV have no signs or symptoms.
Plain Language Sentences:
Most of the time, when CMV gets in your body, you may not even know because you may not feel sick.
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Infectious diseases:
sicknesses caused by germs, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, that enter the body and grow in number; some of these germs spread from one person to another, and some spread in air, water, food, soil, insects or animals.
CDC Original Sentences:
Infectious diseases account for millions of school days lost each year for kindergarten through 12-grade public school students in the United States.
Plain Language Sentences:
Kids in public schools in the United States miss millions of school days each year because of sicknesses caused by germs.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Inform:
tell, share, educate, show, give or provide information for
CDC Original Sentences:
These investigations inform improvements in industry practices and regulatory changes that make our food safer.
Plain Language Sentences:
These investigations provide information about how to improve the way we make food and control the quality so food is safer to eat.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Ingest:
swallow; take into the body
CDC Original Sentences:
Many native and exotic plants are poisonous to humans when ingested or if there is skin contact with plant chemicals.
Plain Language Sentences:
People can get sick if they swallow poisonous plants or if a poisonous plant touches their skin.
Entry Notes: According to Google Trends, over the past 12 months, the term “swallow” averaged 77 searches per week. Searches for “ingest” averaged 29 per week.
Entry Last Modified 17 September 2020
Initiative:
program, project
CDC Original Sentences:
To address the gaps, CDC has developed "Dating Matters", a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention initiative based on the current evidence about what works in prevention.
Plain Language Sentences:
CDC developed "Dating Matters", a complete program to stop teen dating violence before it happens. The program uses what's proven to work and new information about teen dating.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Intake:
take in, eat, put in your body
CDC Original Sentences:
In addition to excess sodium intake, other factors also influence blood pressure and the risk for heart disease and stroke.
Plain Language Sentences:
Your blood pressure and the chances you will have heart disease or a stroke depend on how much sodium is in the foods you eat and other reasons. Salt is a type of sodium.
NOTE: Program should state what the "other factors" included in the original are.
Entry Last Modified 29 September 2017
Integrate:
combine with, make part of, bring together, join
CDC Original Sentences:
A growing body of science supports the effectiveness of combining these efforts through workplace interventions that integrate health protection and health promotion programs.
Plain Language Sentences:
Scientific studies show that workplace programs that bring together activities that protect workers' health and encourage healthy attitudes and actions have better results.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Intervention:
action, treatment, program
CDC Original Sentences:
Currently, most interventions for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are often non-specific, unsystematic, and/or lack scientific evaluation or validation.
Plain Language Sentences:
Most programs to help children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) don't have enough solid results to show they work.
Entry Last Modified 4 November 2016
Ischemic heart disease:
Coronary artery disease (narrowing of the heart's blood vessels)
CDC Original Sentences:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), principally ischemic heart disease and stroke, remains the leading cause of U.S. deaths for men and women and all races and ethnicities in spite of major progress in its prevention and treatment.
Plain Language Sentences:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially coronary artery disease (narrowing of the heart’s blood vessels), is the leading cause of death for US adults.
Entry Last Modified 3 January 2025
If you do audience testing of these words or other public health or medical words, please send your results to the health literacy staff in CDC’s Office of Communications at clearcommunication@cdc.gov.
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