Convalescence is the gradual recovery and of health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 and strength after illness

Illness

Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...

. It refers to the later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to normal, but may continue to be a source of infection even if feeling better. In this sense, "recovery" can be considered a synonymous term.

Convalescent Care Facilities are sometimes recognized by the acronym CCF.

See also

• Remission, absence of symptoms in chronic diseases
• Relapse
  Relapse
  Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate...
  
  , reappearance of symptoms
• Recuperation (recovery), a period of physical or mental recovery
• Recuperation (sociology)
  Recuperation (sociology)
  Recuperation, in the sociological sense, is the process by which politically radical ideas and images are commodified and incorporated within a mainstream society and, thus, become interpreted through a more socially acceptable or conventional perspective. More broadly, it may refer to the...
  
  , a sociological concept