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The most effective way to infuriate an epidemiologist is to call a "prevalence rate" an "incidence rate", or vice versa. Unfortunately, this diabolical practice remains a common feature in print, during presentations at medical references and in conversations between medical colleagues. You may, ask whether this confusion of terminology deserves mention in this column. Our answer is an emphatic "yes"! An incorrect understanding of incidence and prevalence can have disastrous effects on planning, whether within an individual practice or a global public health programme.