{"id":3,"date":"2020-03-23T13:03:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T10:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/pgeorgopou\/?p=3"},"modified":"2020-03-23T13:03:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T10:03:30","slug":"a-guide-to-coronavirus-related-words-deciphering-the-terminology-youre-likely-to-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.e-me.edu.gr\/pgeorgopou\/2020\/03\/23\/a-guide-to-coronavirus-related-words-deciphering-the-terminology-youre-likely-to-hear\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Coronavirus-Related Words: Deciphering the terminology you’re likely to hear"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19<\/strong><\/em> is \u201ca mild to severe respiratory illness that is caused by a\u00a0coronavirus<\/a>,\u201d one that is characterized especially by fever, cough, and shortness of breath and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure. The name is an odd sort of\u00a0acronym<\/a>, insofar as it is formed from portions of two distinct words (COronaVIrus & Disease) and the latter portion of a date (the\u00a019<\/em>\u00a0from\u00a02019<\/em>).\u00a0COVID-19<\/em>\u00a0was first identified in\u00a0Wuhan, China in December 2019.<\/p>\n

Social distance<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0has been in use since the early 19th century, initially with the meaning of \u201cthe degree of acceptance or rejection of social interaction between individuals and especially those belonging to different social groups (such as those based on race, ethnicity, class, or gender).\u201d In modern use the term is more often encountered with the meaning of \u201cthe avoidance of close contact with other people during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection.\u201d The practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance from other people is referred to as\u00a0social distancing<\/a><\/em>, in use since 2003; the verb is\u00a0socially distance<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fomite<\/strong><\/em> (which rhymes with \u2018toe blight\u2019) is \u201can object (such as a dish or a doorknob) that may be contaminated with infectious organisms and serve in their transmission.\u201d While this word is infrequently encountered, there has been considerable talk of late about possible surfaces and objects which might harbor infectious substances, and it may well be useful to have this specific word at hand.<\/p>\n

Epidemic & Pandemic & Outbreak<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

An\u00a0outbreak<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is \u201ca sudden rise in the incidence of a disease\u201d; an\u00a0epidemic<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is \u201can outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time\u201d; a\u00a0pandemic<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is \u201can outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.\u201d An\u00a0outbreak<\/em>\u00a0may become an\u00a0epidemic<\/em>\u00a0if it spreads enough, as an\u00a0epidemic<\/em>\u00a0may likewise\u00a0become a\u00a0pandemic<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Community spread <\/strong><\/em>is \u201cthe spread of a contagious disease within a community.\" It also has the specific meaning of \u201cthe spread of a contagious disease to individuals in a particular geographic location who have no known contact with other infected individuals or who have not recently traveled to an area where the disease has any documented cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact tracing <\/strong><\/em>is \u201cthe practice of identifying and monitoring individuals who may have had contact with an infectious person as a means of controlling the spread of a communicable disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martial law<\/strong><\/em> is \u201cthe law administered by military forces that is invoked by a government in an emergency when the civilian law enforcement agencies are unable to maintain public order and safety.\u201d We occasionally see the term misspelled as\u00a0marshal law<\/em>, probably due to the fact that\u00a0marshal<\/em><\/a> has a number of meanings dealing with the military (\u201ca general officer of the highest military rank\u201d) and the enforcement of laws (\u201can officer having charge of prisoners\u201d). The\u00a0martial<\/em>\u00a0portion of\u00a0martial law<\/em>\u00a0comes from the Latin word\u00a0martalis<\/em>, meaning \u201cof Mars\u201d (referring to the Roman god of war).<\/p>\n

To\u00a0self-quarantine<\/strong><\/em> is \u201cto refrain from any contact with other individuals for a period of time (such as two weeks) during the outbreak of a contagious disease usually by remaining in one's home and limiting contact with family members.\u201d The verb is fairly recent, showing evidence of use only within the past 20 years or so. The noun has been in occasional use prior to this in the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Quarantine<\/strong><\/em> is currently most often found with the meaning of \u201ca restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests.\u201d The word has a number of other meanings, both archaic and current, many of which have to do with a period of 40 days (it may be\u00a0traced back<\/a>\u00a0to the Latin word\u00a0quadraginta<\/em>, meaning \u201cforty\u201d), including a 40 day period during which a widow was permitted by law to remain in her deceased husband's principal home without having to pay rent to his heirs, a period of 40 days set aside for penance or fasting (in early Christian church use), or a general period of 40 days set aside for a variety of uses.<\/p>\n

An\u00a0index case<\/strong><\/em> is \u201cthe first documented case of an infectious disease or genetically transmitted condition or mutation in a population, region, or family.\u201d It may also, however, refer to an individual whose has a disease, condition, or mutation that is the first one identified in a population. This second sense is synonymous with index patient<\/strong><\/em>. A related term is patient zero<\/strong><\/em>, \u201ca person identified as the first to become infected with an illness or disease in an outbreak.\u201d Patient zero<\/em>\u00a0is especially used to refer to a person documented as being the first known case of a\u00a0communicable\u00a0disease in a particular population or region.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0super-spreader<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(also written as\u00a0superspreader<\/em>) is \u201can individual who is highly contagious and capable of transmitting a communicable disease to an unusually large number of uninfected individuals.\u201d The term for the spread of disease by\u00a0super-spreaders<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0super-spreading<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Isolation<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0ultimately derives from the Latin word\u00a0insula<\/em>, meaning \u201cisland.\u201d The word\u2019s path from Latin to English begins with the Italian derivative of\u00a0insula<\/em>,\u00a0isolato<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cisolated\u201d), that became the French word\u00a0isol\u00e9<\/em>, and then moved into English. The literal etymological meaning of the word\u00a0isolated<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0islanded<\/em>. (The first hospitals built in Italy to protect the general population from the sick in the 14th century were\u00a0located on an island<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Contagious<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Infectious<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00a0often cause confusion, as the words overlap in significant ways, yet also have meanings which are in some ways distinct.\u00a0<\/span>Contagious<\/em>\u00a0is \u201ctransmissible by direct or indirect contact with an infected person,\u201d and\u00a0<\/span>infectious<\/em>\u00a0is \u201cproducing or capable of producing infection\u201d and \u201ccontaining pathogenic agents which may be transmitted.\u201d Both\u00a0<\/span>infectious<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>contagious<\/em>\u00a0diseases are caused by\u00a0<\/span>bacteria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>viruses<\/a>; they differ in that\u00a0<\/span>contagious<\/em>\u00a0diseases may be spread by direct or indirect contact.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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An ailment such as food poisoning is\u00a0infectious, it is capable of producing infection, but it is not\u00a0contagious. The\u00a0coronavirus<\/a>, on the other hand, is both\u00a0contagious and _infectious. Anything that is\u00a0contagious\u00a0is automatically also\u00a0infectious, but the reverse is not true. Both words are frequently used in a figurative manner.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Virus<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0has been used to describe something unwelcome for hundreds of years before it became a term for \u2018the reason your computer is doing that funny thing that really isn\u2019t funny at all.\u2019 The word comes from classical Latin in which it referred a number of things which might make one wish to wash their hands (venom, pus, and poisonous\u00a0emanations<\/a>). The biological sense we all know and fear today began being used around the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this virus<\/em>\u00a0had such meanings as \u201cvenom emitted by a poisonous animal,\u201d and \u201ca morbid corrupting quality in intellectual or moral conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

merriam-webster.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 is \u201ca mild to severe respiratory illness that is caused by a\u00a0coronavirus,\u201d one that is characterized especially by fever, cough, and shortness of breath and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure. The name is an odd … <\/p>\n

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