Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Published in the Humboldt Independent on October 13, 2020

Here is the rest of your pandemic lexicon, terms, and phrases we have become familiar with these past 7 months.

N-Z

Where outbreaks of COVID-19 have occurred local healthcare facilities have sometimes become overwhelmed.

N is for Novel, as in the book you finally got around to writing during quarantine.

N is also for Novel as in “new”, referring to this never-before-identified novel coronavirus, of the same virus family that causes the common cold, but in this case far more dangerous, causing the deadly SARS-Cov2, or Covid-19 disease.

O is for Outbreak, a sudden rapid increase in incidence of disease, often confined to a small geographic area. Where outbreaks of COVID-19 have occurred local healthcare facilities have sometimes become overwhelmed, leading to calls for quarantine and lockdowns to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

P is for Pandemic, referring to when a disease has spread across international boundaries, even to other continents, affecting significant portions of the populations of many countries.

P is for PPE (personal protective equipment). PPE is used primarily by healthcare workers but at the beginning of the pandemic was in short supply in many healthcare facilities. This shortage led to the eruption of a cottage industry in the sewing of cloth facemasks. PPE used by healthcare providers caring for COVID-19 patients includes surgical masks, medical gloves, gowns, and face shields.

P is for Proning, or placing a COVID patient on their belly in order to give the lungs, which mainly reside in the back body, more space. Proning has improved breathing in many patients.

Reproductive rate can be lowered through social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and staying home.

Q is for Quarantine, the separation or isolation of people who may have been exposed to disease in order to prevent or contain the spread. In general, it is accepted that if no symptoms develop after 14 days in quarantine, a person will not develop disease and is not contagious.

R is for R-naught or R0, also known as reproductive rate, referring to the average number of people one person with the disease will infect. A high R0 leads to exponential growth of infection. R0 can be lowered through social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands, and staying home.

R is for Regeneron, the drug manufacturer that has requested emergency approval for its experimental drug that was used on President Trump after his COVID-19 diagnosis.

R is also for Remdesivir. An anti-viral drug still in the stage of clinical trials and only temporarily authorized for use in about 50 countries. Lab results and early stages of clinical trials have led to the drug being given an Emergency Use Authorization in the US for use on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir was given to President Trump after his COVID-19 diagnosis and has been shown to possibly have some effect on slowing the course of serious COVID infections.

S is for SARS (and SARS-Cov2), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, originally appearing in China in 2002, also caused by a coronavirus, and considered to be the predecessor to SARS-CoV2.

S is for Social Distancing, staying at least 6 feet away from others, especially when indoors, to limit the sharing of virus-loaded aerosols projected when speaking, singing, sneezing, etc.

T is for T-cell, an important part of the human immune system, and found in studies this past spring to target SARS-CoV2 and assist in recovery from COVID-19.

U is for U look great in your mask.

V is for ventilator, a machine that pumps oxygen into the lungs through a tube inserted into the throat. In the early stages of COVID-19, ventilators were used frequently and many healthcare facilities did not have enough of them for every patient who needed one. Additionally, the majority of patients placed on ventilators did not survive. As the disease became understood to be more of a clotting disorder than the respiratory disease the original SARS had been, it was realized that ventilators are not necessarily needed.

V is for Viral Load, the measurement of concentration of virus particles in blood, saliva, mucous, etc. High viral load has been shown to produce higher levels of contagion and also indicates a likelihood of more severe disease.

V is for Viral Shedding, the release of infectious particles by a host carrying the disease. In COVUD-19 it is believed that viral shedding is greatest when a person is highly symptomatic.

X and Y are for the X-act reason Y you should always wear your mask: We are all in this together.

W is for Wuhan, the city in China where the first outbreak of COVID-19 occurred. Theories trace the first victim to a transaction at a live animal market in the city of 11 million. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the novel coronavirus was first identified, is also located there.

X and Y are for the X-act reason Y you should always wear your mask: We are all in this together.

Z is for Zoonotic, referring to when an infectious disease is caused by a pathogen, whether a virus, bacteria, or parasite, jumps to a human from a non-human animal. Many scientists believe the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 to be of zoonotic origin.

Now that you know your ABCs, won’t you wear a mask with me?

Ann Constantino, submitted on behalf of the SoHum Health’s Outreach department.