Autora: Verónica Amaro Bermejo
The coronavirus is one of the greatest challenges humankind has ever faced. Because of that,, I will review some of the most important words associated with the current coronavirus.
Each of the following terms, listed in alphabetical order and has a basic definition;
Asymptomatic: showing no symptoms of a particular disease.
Contact tracing: the process of identifying all people that a COVID-19 patient has come in contact with in the last two weeks.
Contagious: describing a disease that can pass from person to person, usually by direct contact; describing a person with such a disease.
Coronavirus: any one of a large family of viruses that can cause disease in the respiratory and digestive systems.
COVID-19: official name for the coronavirus disease that emerged in China in 2019. COVID-19 = COronaVIrus Disease-2019.
Diagnose: identify an illness by examining the symptoms.
Disease: illness; sickness; a disorder of the body.
Flatten the curve: means to spread out the projected number of new cases over a longer period so that people have better access to healthcare.
Herd immunity: an indirect protection from a disease resulting from a large percentage of the population gaining immunity.
Incubation period: the time from a person’s first exposure to a disease to the time when symptoms develop.
Infected: affected with a disease-causing organism.
Isolation: separation of infected people from healthy people for serious contagious diseases like COVID-19.
Mask: a piece of fibre or cloth that fits over the nose and mouth to protect other people from germs.
Quarantine: isolation and monitoring of people who seem healthy but may have been exposed to an infectious disease to see if they develop symptoms.
Patient zero: the person identified as the first to become infected with a disease in an outbreak.
Self-isolate: isolate oneself; put oneself in quarantine, away from other people.
Social distancing: is a public health practice that aims to prevent sick people from coming in close contact with healthy people in order to reduce opportunities for disease transmisión.
PCR test: test that detects viral particles in blood or other body fluids. (PCR = polymerase chain reaction).
Symptomatic: showing symptoms of a particular disease.
Test negative | test positive: if you take a test for an infection and you test negative, that means you do not have the infection. If you test positive, that means you have the infection.
Transmission: transfer of a disease from animal to human or from human to human.
Vaccine: a substance used to protect humans and animals from a disease.
Virus: a living thing, too small to be seen without a microscope, that causes infectious disease in animals and humans.