rare disease
noun
A rare disease is an uncommon disease that few people have. It is usually not very well known, and even doctors sometimes know very little about them. For this reason they are called ‘rare’. There are usually not many medicines to treat them and scientists have to do a lot of research to find out more about the disease and its possible cure. Some children with rare diseases often have to go to hospital to be tested and miss school as a consequence.
We can also refer to them as minority diseases, as they affect very few people.
rare disease
