The RKI gives new case numbers every day, the BMG speaks of R values, researchers warn of mutants. And the media is talking shop about lockdown and shutdown. Too much technical jargon? This alphabetically arranged glossary will help you find your way around quickly:
Aerosols: Aerosols are tiny particles and particles that float in the air. Infected people can release virus-containing aerosols via the exhaled air. They are considered one of the transmission routes of the corona virus. The particles of aerosols are even smaller than the droplets that play a role in droplet infection. In order to protect yourself from infection with Covid-19, you should therefore keep a sufficient distance from other people, wear masks and air rooms regularly.
AHA+L rule: Since last spring it has been: keep your distance, wear hygiene measures and wear an everyday mask. In summer, experts also recommend airing rooms regularly. The Federal Ministry of Health has summarized these recommendations in the so-called "AHA+L" rule.
Are you missing a term? Then please write to me: roland.muehlbauer@apotheken-umschau.de
Asymptomatic: Diseases can manifest themselves with various symptoms. These so-called symptoms include, for example, coughing, exhaustion or fever. In the case of asymptomatic infections, on the other hand, no such signs are recognizable, the patient feels healthy but is nevertheless infected by a pathogen and can be contagious.
BMG: The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) is a supreme federal authority and is responsible, among other things, for health protection and disease control. In addition, the ministry sets the general conditions for the production and approval of medicinal products.
CT value: A PCR test, for example, helps to diagnose an infection with Covid-19. The smear is examined in the laboratory for the corresponding viruses. The CT value indicates how high the viral load is in the sample. A low CT value indicates a high viral load. Conversely, a low viral load is indicated by a high CT value.
Corona data donation app: Since April 2020, the Robert Koch Institute has been calling on Germans who use fitness trackers or smartwatches to use the data donation app voluntarily. With their help, the RKI collects health and activity data such as sleep patterns, heart rate and body temperature. In addition, biometric data such as gender, age, weight, height and postal code are collected. Background: A change in pulse, sleep and body temperature can indicate an infection with the corona virus.
Covid-19: Acute infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan (China). Covid-19 is the abbreviation for "Coronavirus Disease 2019".
Dispersion number: The k value (dispersion number) indicates the frequency with which a virus is passed on. A dispersion number of 1 would mean that the infection is being passed evenly from one person to another at a time. However, this is not the case with the corona virus, because a person can infect several people around them at the same time, while others may not pass the virus on at all.
How the corona virus spreads depends to a large extent on our behavior. Experts speak of cluster-driven chains of infection. The smaller the k value, the more people have become infected from another person. For example, if k were 0.1, then 10 percent of those infected would be responsible for 80 percent of the infections. Experts then assume a "superspreader event".
Vaccination coverage: Describes the proportion of vaccinated people in relation to the total population. The higher the vaccination coverage, the better protected a society is from certain diseases.
Endemic: Diseases that occur repeatedly in a specific region are called endemic. An example is the banal flu, which regularly occurs in autumn and winter.
Epidemic: Epidemics are diseases that break out in a limited period of time and in a limited region with a particularly large number of cases. They can recur.
#FlattenTheCurve: Graphics that describe the course of infection show an exponential course of infection with the corona virus. The curve runs steeply upwards. The hashtag "#FlattenTheCurve" originated on social media and is an invitation to everyone to take an active part in flattening the curve again. This will be possible if everyone adheres to the protective measures.
Infection Protection Act (IfSG): This law regulates the handling of notifiable diseases in Germany. This is to prevent new diseases from spreading. The Infection Protection Act is the basis for restricting fundamental rights, such as freedom of assembly and freedom of movement, and for imposing bans on activities. Almost all protective measures taken by the federal government to contain the corona virus are based on the IfSG.
Infectivity: Describes the ability of a pathogen to infect a host - in the case of the current pandemic, the coronavirus mainly infects humans as hosts.
Incubation period: Doctors call the incubation period the time between infection and the onset of the disease. With the flu it is between one and two days, with Corona it can take up to 14 days for the disease to break out. In some cases it takes as little as five to six days for the disease to break out. Infection of other people is possible during the incubation phase.
Incidence: The incidence describes the number of new cases in a certain population size during a certain period of time. In connection with the corona virus, experts speak of a seven-day incidence in 100,000 inhabitants, i.e. how many positive PCR or antigen tests there have been in the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants.
Herd immunity: protection against disease when a sufficient proportion of people have been immunized. Immunization can be by either infection or vaccination. When herd immunity is reached differs depending on the disease. In the case of measles, it only takes effect from a vaccination rate of 95 percent, and in the case of diphtheria from 80 percent.
It has not yet been clarified how high the vaccination rate for Covid-19 should be. Experts still disagree on whether 70 or more likely 80 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
Lethality: The mortality rate indicates the proportion of deaths from a specific disease. The lethality describes how deadly a disease is.
Lockdown: A lockdown is when the population is isolated for their own protection and certain freedoms have to be restricted. In English, the term is used when certain areas are closed after an assassination attempt to protect the population.
In Germany, linguists criticize the term as inappropriate because there have been no nationwide closures due to the corona virus, nor have there been such far-reaching curfews as in Italy or Spain.
Airing: Proper ventilation can help reduce the risk of infection with the coronavirus. This dilutes the aerosol concentration in the room. As a rule of thumb, the Federal Environment Agency recommends ventilating classrooms three times an hour with the window wide open. When the outside temperature is cold, the window can be closed again after three to five minutes; when the temperature is warm, 10 to 20 minutes may be necessary.
Notification obligation: If a person falls ill with measles, rubella or mumps, doctors, pharmacists or test laboratories must report the disease to the health department. Since January 2020, the obligation to report has also applied to infections with the coronavirus.
Mutation: change in the genetic material, in this case the coronavirus. It causes either an advantage or disadvantage for the virus. In the unfavorable case for humans, the pathogen can spread more quickly or cause more severe disease progression.
So mutations can be more or less contagious than the original type of virus. The known mutants of the coronavirus are commonly named after the region where they were first found, for example the "South African" or the "English" mutant.
mRNA/mRNA: The term mRNA has been on everyone's lips since coronavirus vaccines based on mRNA came onto the market. These are completely new types of vaccines. The "messenger ribonucleic acid" (English: acid = acid) is a copy of the genome. It is responsible for the production of proteins in the cell.
These proteins, for example, form structures against which the immune system can act. When vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine, the human cell replicates the protein bodies of the virus and thereby activates the body's own immune system against the foreign pathogen.
Pandemic: The RKI defines the pandemic as a worldwide epidemic. A disease spreads across national borders and continents. However, pandemics occur less frequently than regional epidemics.
PCR test: PCR stands for "polymerase chain reaction". The PCR test is used in laboratories to detect hereditary diseases and viral infections. It is considered the most reliable method for diagnosing a corona infection. For this purpose, a swab is taken from the test person's nose and throat. The laboratory shows whether this genetic material contains the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.
Peer review: Before a scientific paper can be published in a peer-reviewed journal, it is reviewed by a committee of experts. This procedure is called peer review, in German: short report. It is intended to ensure the quality of the publication.
Pneumonia: Doctors refer to inflammation of the lungs as pneumonia. Bacteria are considered to be the trigger, but viruses, such as the novel corona virus, can also cause pneumonia.
Prevalence: The prevalence indicates how many people are suffering from a specific disease at a specific point in time. In the case of large epidemics, however, it can only be estimated, especially if the disease can sometimes progress without symptoms.
Preprint: Scientific work that is already accessible online before it is actually published in a specialist journal. It is not peer-reviewed, i.e. not yet checked by independent experts. Findings from preprints should be viewed with caution.
Quarantine: To protect themselves and others, people with an infectious disease must isolate themselves and limit contact with the outside world as much as possible. The quarantine can be carried out voluntarily or ordered by an authority. Corona infected people, contact persons or travelers from risk areas must go into quarantine for at least 14 days according to current rules. The reason for isolation can be a positive corona test.
R value: The reproduction number shows how many people an infected person infects on average. The R value allows experts to estimate whether a disease will continue to spread when the R value is greater than one, or if it is slowly being contained when the R value is less than one.
So the higher the R value, the more the virus spreads in the population. Contact restrictions are intended to reduce the number of reproductions. The goal is an R value below one to prevent exponential spread of the virus.
SARS-CoV-2: This is the name of the new type of pathogen that causes the lung disease Covid-19. It belongs to the family of corona viruses, which can cause diseases in both humans and animals. "SARS" stands for "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome".
Shutdown: The term actually describes the closure of a factory, shop or company for a certain period of time or permanently. In Germany, too, the word "shutdown" has an economic background and describes the shutting down of the economy, for example the closure of shops or the pausing of production.
Spike protein: A spike protein is an outwardly protruding protein structure of the viral envelope. These structures can be seen with an electron microscope. SARS-CoV-2 is spiked with spike proteins, giving it its characteristic spiky appearance. The spike proteins help the virus to dock onto the host cell.
Superspreader: A superspreader is a sick person who infects a particularly large number of other people and thus contributes to the spread of a certain disease. Some sporting events in packed stadiums, evenings in discos or bars were among the "superspreading events" during the corona pandemic ".
STIKO: The Standing Vaccination Commission, STIKO for short, is an independent expert committee that develops vaccination recommendations for Germany.
Droplet infection: Pathogens can spread in different ways. In the case of the corona virus, this happens primarily via droplet infection. When we speak, laugh, cough or sneeze, the virus gets into the environment with droplets of saliva. Our counterpart can inhale the virus and thus become infected with the corona virus, for example. A sufficient distance and protective masks can reduce the risk of infection.
Doubling number: It can be used to predict when the number of infected people has doubled. It is decisive for how many people fall ill and may need intensive medical care in the hospital. The higher the doubling number, the faster a pathogen spreads.
Virus: From a medical point of view, viruses are infectious particles that can cause diseases. Because they depend on a host to reproduce, they do not count as living beings.
Warn app: The Corona app is an offer from the federal government that every citizen can use voluntarily. A smartphone is required to be able to install the app. It shows if you have been in the immediate vicinity of people who have subsequently registered as infected in the last fourteen days. The app is intended to help track contacts of infected people and break chains of infection.
#ZeroCovid: The initiative calls for a comprehensive Europe-wide lockdown of all vital areas. Representatives speak of a "solidarity break" to get the pandemic under control and reduce the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants to zero.
Zoonoses: Infectious diseases that are triggered by pathogens that can infect both animals and humans. Zoonoses can be transmitted from animal to human or from human to animal. 200 such zoonoses are currently known, including Ebola, rabies and the corona virus.
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