Covid-19 And Various Terminology
COVID-19 is synonymous with:
CO symbolises corona,
VI stands for virus
D for disease
19 refers to the year of the identification of the first event.
WHY IT’S NOT CALLED THE WUHAN VIRUS OR COVID-19 CHINA?
To avoid stigmatizing the country/area, WHO believed it had deliberately avoided naming the disease after the place of origin. On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) also declared 'Extreme Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)' as the name of the new virus.
TERMINOLOGY ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19:
SARS-CoV-2
'Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)' was announced as the name of the new virus by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
Outbreak
It is considered an outbreak when the occurrence of disease increases above the predicted level in a specific population or geographic region.
Pandemic
It is considered a pandemic if the disease spreads over many countries or continents.
R0
The simple reproduction number is R0 — R-Naught. This is the number of new infections in an entirely susceptible population caused by one infected organism. If R0 is 2, then two others will be infected by one person.
Co-morbidities
Several health problems, such as uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, cancer, morbid obesity, respiratory disorders, weakened immune systems, placed patients at higher risk of infection and poor clinical results as well.
The Transmission
The mechanism by which the infection spreads. In COVID-19, it is expelled by respiratory droplets while talking, laughing, coughing, and sneezing.
Community transmission
If you can no longer say who was the cause of the infection, or how someone developed the disease.
Contact Tracing
Identifying and tracking individuals who may have come into contact with an infectious entity.
Super Spreader
In a disproportionately large number of individuals, some people appear to have the potential to cause more infections than others.
Positivity rate
It is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. Only high-risk groups are likely to be studied if the positivity rate is high. A low rate of positivity may also mean that there is not adequate research being performed.
Infection fatality rate
It is the number of deaths in all infected persons.
Case Fatality rate
This is the number of deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases occurring.
Cytokine Storm
When disease turns serious, an immune response caused by the body to combat infection is known as a cytokine storm. Although they usually control immune responses, they cause harm in this situation and can even cause death.
RT- PCR (Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction)
It is the primary COVID-19 infection detection test that uses swab samples taken from the nasal/oral cavity to test for viral RNA (ribonucleic acid) presence.
Antibody tests
By looking for antibodies, these tests search your blood, and that only means that you have had a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Antibodies are proteins that help combat pathogens and are unique to each disease, providing immunity to the re-emergence of that specific disease.
Plasma Therapy
It is a way of using blood-neutralizing antibodies in people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to treat COVID-19 patients.
(HCQ) hydroxychloroquine
An oral antimalarial drug that is being reused for COVID-19 therapy. It has also been successfully used to treat some autoimmune disorders.
Curve flattening
Reducing the number of new instances of COVID-19, day after day. The concept of flattening the curve is to ensure that a large number of cases don't overload the health system.
Herd Immunity
This is often referred to as group immunity and describes a decrease in the risk of infection within a population, mostly due to prior virus or vaccine exposure.
PPE (Personal protective equipment)
PPE is a specialized apparel and equipment that is used as a protection against health risks, including disease exposure.
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON TAXONOMY OF VIRUSES (ICTV)
The International Committee on Virus Taxonomy (ICTV) authorizes and organizes the nomenclature and taxonomic classification of viruses. A universal taxonomic system for viruses has been established by the ICTV. Each virus that affects living organisms is also described, named, and graded. Expert virologists are regarded as members of the ICTV.
Objectives:
- To establish a taxonomy for viruses that are internationally accepted
- To establish internationally accepted names for viruses.
- Communicate the decisions made by the holding of meetings and the release of reports.
- Maintain an official index of virus taxa names agreed upon.
- To research the effects of viruses and their behavior in modern society.
Basic values of ICTV are:
- Stability
- To prohibit or deny the use of names that could lead to error or misunderstanding
- To stop making names unnecessarily.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SARS AND COVID-19?
The name was chosen because the virus is genetically similar to the coronavirus that triggered the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The two viruses, though related, are different.