The new coronavirus (SARS- Translated into plain English for non- * The smaller- (Do not miss the abbreviation list in the end; also, check the new online virology training for translators and interpreters!) Of note, some of the statements listed below concern facts that are still under investigation. They are true as of today but as we learn more about the virus, this may change. For those that are prone to change, the date of last update is indicated. Make a good use of it! You have questions, suggestions, you want another fact explained? Submit it here. | ||
Important: mind that this is by no means meant to be any kind of medical advice; if you are unwell, seek medical advice with the designated healthcare institutions in your area. | ||
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What does it mean in practice? |
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One of very important things that this implies is that using antibiotics does not
work (viruses are not sensitive to antibiotics). You may have heard that some doctors
prescribe antibiotics to patients with severe forms of COVID- Do not use antibiotics ‘just in case’, this will not help and may even be harmful by promoting the development of some bacteria resistant to antibiotics; it would also affect the ‘good’ bacteria that live in your body, which is not what you want. |
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SARS- Knowing where the virus belongs allows us to make some assumptions about how it may behave, which may accelerate characterising the virus (and so finding the ways to deal with it). It is in this virus family that we find the SARS culprit: a virus called SARS- A note for translators You may come across the term ‘2019- |
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The name of the virus is SARS- A note for translators We might still say ‘the COVID- If you ever have doubts about the correct name for any virus, check the website of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). |
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SARS- This also implies that you should avoid close contact with animals as well eating raw or undercooked animal products in risk zones. It does not mean that you get the virus from any animal. E.g. there is NO evidence
that cats and dogs can spread COVID- It does not mean that infected people do not spread the infection, either – on the
contrary, we know that SARS- A note for translators We also talk about ‘zoonotic diseases’ or ‘zoonoses’ (by the way, not all of them are caused by viruses). |
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SARS- If even the virus is not racist, we should certainly not be either, let us be reasonable … and human. |
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We have to take the SARS- A note for translators WHO has declared the outbreak to be a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC; January 2020) – mind the wording |
COVID- the incubation period does not exceed 11.5 days for nearly 98% of infected individuals (last fact update: September 10, 2020) |
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The average* time lapse between the infection with SARS- (* yes, the mean and the average are not exactly the same but I guess we can use them as synonyms for the sake of this explanation) almost 98% of people infected with SARS- It is important to determine the exact length of the incubation period because this is the time when the person may be infected without knowing it, so may unintentionally spread the infection. It also allows to determine the appropriate quarantine duration to limit – if not prevent – the spread of the disease. A note for translators The relevant specialist terms / expressions are: incubation period, disease onset, the onset of symptoms, symptomatic, asymptomatic, or presymptomatic patient |
Infectious SARS- (last fact update: September 10, 2020) |
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This implies that we can get the virus for example from a plastic table we put our hands on two days (or even later, this depends on several factors) after someone has spread the virus on it. Like from any other plastic surface that got contaminated by someone infected. For cardboard, this time is shorter (up to 24 hours) but we still need to be cautious. As many factors influence the time for which the virus can persist on surfaces, mind that it may even be longer under some conditions. As we are going through the pandemic, do not touch anything you do not need to touch e.g. when shopping. Do not touch your face (mouse, nose, eyes). Discard all unnecessary plastic and cardboard packages and the like as soon as you get home. Wash your hands properly in any case. Check our linked article of March 18, 2020 for more interpretation. |
Older age is associated with a higher COVID- |
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This means that older people are at a higher risk to develop severe disease when
infected with SARS- |
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That means that there are - |
There is currently no universally approved treatment for the SARS- (last fact update: November 20, 2020) |
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So far, there are no treatments that can directly ‘kill’ (destroy) SARS- You may have heard about dexamethasone, a long- Antiviral drug remdesivir has been the first drug to be approved by the American
Food and Drug Administration (FDA; full approval issued on the 22nd of October, 2020)
for treatment of some hospitalised COVID- Finally, plasma obtained from COVID- A note for translators As research on potential therapeutic agents is ongoing, you may come across such terms as antivirals, candidate drugs, experimental drugs, preclinical testing … and more |
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, even though shown to have anti- (last fact update: September 17, 2020) |
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This means that we do not know yet whether these medications work against SARS- Physicians and all other specialists involved in conducting clinical trials are really
doing their best to get the results as quickly as possible but they need to take
some time to obtain and analyse the data in order to provide reliable results. It
is not just about finding a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ reply to a question whether these
drugs work. They may work only at some stages of the disease. They may work very
well for some people but be harmful to others – we must know when and why, not to
put anybody in danger. They may be safe to use at some doses but be toxic at others
(they will surely be toxic at some doses in fact, so we must be sure of the thresholds).
There may be some particular ‘forms’ of the compounds that may work (mind that chloroquine
and hydroxychloroquine are not exactly the same), we must know which ones for sure.
We really have to know answers to these and many other questions before any treatment
can be safely used. And in any case, such treatments should only be taken when prescribed
by a doctor. Do not take any treatment said to work against COVID- You may have heard that some ‘forms’ of chloroquine (namely hydroxychloroquine sulphate
and chloroquine phosphate) had received the Emergency Use Authorisation from the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; granted on March 28, 2020). Mind that this
authorisation has recently been revoked due to safety concerns, possible interactions
with other treatments and low probability that it actually works against SARS- The debate over the use of hydroxychloroquine seems to have gone political and has
risen lots of unnecessary emotions and preliminary hopes. However, from a scientific
point of view, we still have no data that would support the hypothesis that using
it to treat COVID- |
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The genome of SARS- It is important to know as RNA viruses tend to mutate (in other words: evolve, change) quicker than DNA viruses, which makes their diagnosis and treatment more difficult. |
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RT- You may have heard about a new test by Roche which received the Emergency Use Authorisation
of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 12, or a new test by Biomerieux
which obtained the same on March 23 - RT- In any case, the timing of the testing is of utmost importance to obtain a reliable result (see also the fact below). A note for translators Some of you may have followed our Molecular diagnostics for translators training
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RT- (last fact update: September 17, 2020) |
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A false- Diagnosing SARS-
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Check also WHO’s COVID- | ||
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A note for translators Abbreviations and acronyms can be a nightmare (isn’t that right?) |
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That implies that you may like a list of those related to COVID- (of course, all acronyms / abbreviations must be interpreted in their context; below
we provide the most common meanings in the context of COVID- ABHR: alcohol- ACE2: angiotensin- ACH: air changes per hour AGPs: aerosol- AH: absolute humidity AIIR: airborne infection isolation room ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome BNP: B- BSL: biosafety level (e.g. when referring to a lab) CAP: community- CBC: complete blood count CC50: the 50% cytotoxic concentration CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US) CFR: case fatality rate CIA: chemiluminescent immunoassay CoVs: coronaviruses CP: convalescent plasma CPAP: continuous positive airway pressure [device] CPE: cytopathic effect CPP: Clinical Characterisation Protocol CRF: Case Record Form CRF CRS: cytokine release syndrome CWB: convalescent whole blood CT: computed tomography CXR: chest X- EC50: half maximal effective concentration ECDC: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ECMO: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation EID(s): emerging infectious disease(s) ELISA: enzyme- EM: electron microscopy EPA: Environmental Protection Agency (US) EUA: Emergency Use Authorisation FDA: US Food and Drug Administration FFP: filtering face piece FFR: filtering facepiece respirator GGO: ground- HAN: Health Alert Network HCWs: healthcare workers HCoV: human coronavirus HCP: healthcare personel / professional HCQ: hydroxychloroquine HTO: high- ICT: immunochromatographic test ICU: intensive care unit IDSA: Infectious Diseases Society of America IFA: (indirect) immunofluorescence assay IFN: interferon Ig: immunoglobulin ILI: influenza- IND: investigational new drug (when referring to drug approval) IPC: infection prevention and control ISG: interferon- IVIg (also: IVIG): intravenous immunoglobulins LAN: lymphadenopathy LF: lateral flow LFA: Lateral flow assay LFD: Lateral flow device LFIA: lateral flow immunoassay LFT: Lateral flow test LFTs: liver function tests LOD: limit of detection LRTI(s): lower respiratory tract infection(s) MCC: mucociliary clearance MIS- MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (by CDC) NAbs or nAbs: neutralising antibodies NAT: nucleic acid test / testing NID: neglected infectious diseases NIOSH: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (US) NPA: nasopharyngeal aspirate NPIs: non- NPS: nasopharyngeal swab nt: nucleotide ORF: open reading frame PAPR: powered air purifying respirator PBNA: pseudovirion- PCR: polymerase chain reaction PFU: plaque forming unit(s) PM: particulate matter POC: point- PPE: personal protective equipment RPP: respiratory pathogen panel (careful, this acronym is not widely used; I’d recommend spelling it out when translating to avoid ambiguity) PRTs: pathogen inactivation/reduction technologies PUI: patient / person under investigation RAD: rapid antigen detection RDT: rapid diagnostic test RH: relative humidity RT- RUO: research use only SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome S/D: solvent/detergent (a mixture) SI: selectivity index (in pharmacology) SS: superspreader SSEs: superspreading events SoC or SOC: standard of care TCID: tissue culture infectious dose UHPLC- URTI(s): upper respiratory tract infection(s) (sometimes this is abbreviated to URI but the latter is also used for urinary tract, so I would stick to URTI for clarity) WBC: white blood cells … to be continued… |
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We have also written about abbreviations and acronyms in medical translation on LinkedIn. |
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