Africa-Press – South-Africa. CAPE TOWN – The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our lives, as well as everyday vocabulary and commonly used phrases.
The pandemic has led to an explosion of new words and phrases. This new vocabulary helps us understand what the experts recommend, so that we can all follow guidelines to keep us and everyone around us safe.
The Merriam-Webster publishers have has also made an unscheduled update to the dictionary in response to the pandemic.
Here is a quick rundown of all the most common terms and what they mean in relation to the virus:
Clinical trials:
The primary way researchers find out if a new treatment, like a new vaccine, is safe and effective in people.
Vaccine efficacy:
How well a vaccine works under the conditions of the clinical trial. Scientists can calculate how well a vaccine candidate works by looking at the difference in new cases of the disease between the group receiving a placebo and the group receiving the experimental vaccine.
Placebo:
A harmless substance that looks identical to the treatment being tested in a clinical trial, but contains no active ingredient. It is designed to have no therapeutic value.
Variant:
A version of the virus that has accumulated enough mutations to represent a separate branch on the family tree.
Herd immunity:
When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease. This provides indirect protection (also called herd protection) to those who are not immune to the disease.
Emergency use authorisation (EUA):
A mechanism to facilitate the availability and use of medical countermeasures, including vaccines, during public health emergencies, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Peer reviewed journal:
Scholarly journal written by experts and reviewed by several other experts in the field before they are published in the journal in order to ensure the article’s quality.
Antibodies:
Specialised proteins that bind like a lock-and-key to the body’s foreign invaders whether they are viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites.
Virologists:
Medical doctors who oversee the diagnosis, management and prevention of infection. They’re also scientists, who may drive research on various aspects of viruses.
Epidemiologists:
Medical doctors who search for the cause of disease, identify people who are at risk, and determine how to control or stop the spread, or prevent it from happening again.
Long-haulers:
Patients who have had a positive Covid-19 test. They may or may not have been hospitalised, but are seeking some type of health-care support because they are now having an onset of symptoms, such as fatigue, muscle aches and diarrhoea.
