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The arrival of SARS-CoV-2, the virus liable for COVID-19, introduced a batch of vocabulary into the general public eye, from “fomite” to “social distancing.” See our information from 2020.
And now there is a new report from the World Health Organization that proposes a set of recent phrases and definitions — together with a revised mind-set about pathogens that transmit by means of the air.
Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist of WHO, considers the doc to be a sort of base camp. With a shared vocabulary and method, he and his colleagues try to get public well being professionals on the identical web page to scale back confusion and streamline the containment of infections sooner or later.
This is required as a result of transmission is sophisticated. “It relies on my immunity. It relies on your immunity,” says Farrar. “It relies on the humidity. It relies on the dimensions of the room. It relies on the airflow. It relies upon whether or not I’ve been vaccinated or whether or not I’m immune. Depends on my age. Depends on whether or not I’ve obtained diabetes or I’ve obtained different situations. It’s sophisticated.”
NPR has ready a quiz to check your information of this new pondering — and the way WHO is hoping it is going to be used.