termID,termfull,descriptiontext
Antibody,Antibody,"An antibody is a blood protein produced by the body as a defensive response to substances that the body recognizes as alien, such as bacteria, viruses and foreign substances in the blood."
Antibodytest,Antibody test,An antibody test is used to determine if an individual has previously had the coronavirus (COVID-19) and developed antibodies. The test works by taking a blood sample and testing for the presence of antibodies to see if an individual has developed an immune response to the virus.
Antigen,Antigen,"An antigen is a toxin or other foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies. Antigens include molecules made by bacteria, fungi and viruses."
Asymptomatic,Asymptomatic,"Asymptomatic refers to when somebody does not show any signs of being ill, even though they may be infected with and therefore can still spread a disease such as the coronavirus (COVID-19)."
Confidenceinterval,Confidence interval,"A confidence interval gives an indication of the degree of uncertainty of an estimate, showing the precision of a sample estimate. The 95% confidence intervals are calculated so that if we repeated the study many times, 95% of the time the true unknown value would lie between the lower and upper confidence limits. A wider interval indicates more uncertainty in the estimate. Overlapping confidence intervals indicate that there may not be a true difference between two estimates."
Contacttracing,Contact tracing,Contact tracing is the process of working out who has had contact with someone who is infected with a disease such as the coronavirus (COVID-19). This means that everyone who has been in close contact with an infected person can be told to isolate themselves.
Coronavirus,Coronavirus,"Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause disease in people and animals. They can cause the common cold or more severe diseases, such as COVID-19. "
COVID-19,COVID-19,"COVID-19 is the name used to refer to the disease caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus, which is a type of coronavirus. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) takes COVID-19 to mean presence of SARS-CoV-2 with or without symptoms. "
Credibleinterval,Credible interval,A credible interval gives an indication of the uncertainty of an estimate from data analysis. 95% credible intervals are calculated so that there is a 95% probability of the true value lying in the interval.
DHSCDepartmentforHealthandSocialCare,Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC),The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a government department responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England.
Endemic,Endemic,Endemic is used to describe a disease or condition regularly found among particular people or in a certain area. It is thought that the coronavirus (COVID-19) will become a disease that is endemic to the UK and most other countries.
Epidemic,Epidemic,An epidemic is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community or country at a particular time.
False-positivesandfalse-negatives,False-positives and false-negatives,"A false-positive result occurs when the tests suggest a person has the coronavirus (COVID-19) when in fact they do not. By contrast, a false-negative result occurs when the tests suggest a person does not have COVID-19 when in fact they do."
Flatteningthecurve,Flattening the curve,"Flattening the curve describes slowing the rate at which people become infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) allowing health services to cope. It does not necessarily mean reducing the number of cases of the disease overall, and it may mean that the outbreak lasts longer."
Furlough,Furlough,Furlough is a temporary absence from work allowing workers to keep their job while the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues.
Herdimmunity,Herd immunity,"When enough people become immune to an infectious disease that it can no longer spread easily through the population, this is referred to as herd immunity. Acquiring immunity can be a result of recovering from an infection and producing antibodies naturally or gaining them through vaccination."
Immunity,Immunity,Immunity is the ability of a person to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitised white blood cells.
Incidencerate,Incidence rate,"The incidence rate is an estimate of how often new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) occur over a given period of time. This is different to the prevalence, which is an estimate of the total number of people currently infected with the virus and not just the new cases."
Incubationperiod,Incubation period,"The incubation period is the length of time between a person catching a virus and displaying symptoms of that virus (if they display symptoms at all). In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), people may still be able to infect others in this time. The incubation period for COVID-19 is thought to be five days on average, although can be shorter or longer (up to 14 days or more), and in some cases infected people may not develop symptoms at all."
IQVIA,IQVIA,"IQVIA, formerly Quintiles and IMS Health, Inc., is an American multinational company serving the combined industries of health information technology and clinical research."
JointBiosecurityCentreJBC,Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC),"The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) brings together the UK’s world-leading epidemiological expertise and fuses it with the best analytical capability from across government in an integrated approach. The JBC has an independent analytical function to provide real-time analysis and assessment of infection outbreaks at a community level, to enable rapid intervention before outbreaks grow."
Lockdown,Lockdown,"Lockdown refers to the shutting down of all non-essential activities to slow the spread of a virus. This can include only leaving the house for essentials such as food or medicine, for exercise, or to give care as well as the closing of non-essential shops and the banning of mass gatherings."
Noseandthroatswabs,Nose and throat swabs,Nose and throat swabs are a method for collecting a sample of nasal secretions from the back of the nose and throat. These samples are then tested for antigens to determine if an individual has the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Oddsratio,Odds ratio,"An odds ratio is a measure of how likely an outcome is given a particular characteristic. In the COVID-19 context, they can be used to determine whether a characteristic (for example, age) is a risk factor for testing positive for the disease. The odds ratio measures can also be compared with each other to compare the different levels of risk associated with different characteristics (for example, age groups)."
Outbreak,Outbreak,An outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease in a particular time and place.
Pandemic,Pandemic,"A pandemic is an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people"
Pathogen,Pathogen,"A pathogen refers broadly to any virus, bacterium or other microorganism that can cause a disease, and it may simply be referred to as a “germ”. The coronavirus (COVID-19) can be described as a pathogen."
Patientzero,Patient zero,"Patient zero refers to the first person identified as being infected with an illness, in this case the coronavirus (COVID-19), in a given population."
PPE,Personal protective equipment (PPE),Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to items which a person can use to reduce their risk of both catching and spreading a disease.
Pillar1,Pillar 1,The government’s mass testing programme includes four types of tests known as pillars. Pillar 1 consists of swab testing in Public Health England (PHE) labs and NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need as well as health and care workers.
Pillar2,Pillar 2,The government’s mass testing programme includes four types of tests known as pillars. Pillar 2 consists of commercial partner testing – swab testing for the wider population.
Pillar3,Pillar 3,The government’s mass testing programme includes four types of tests known as pillars. Pillar 3 consists of antibody testing to find out if people have antibodies from having had the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Pillar4,Pillar 4,"The government’s mass testing programme includes four types of tests known as pillars. Pillar 4 is surveillance testing – antibody serology and antigen swab testing for national surveillance supported by Public Health England (PHE), the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Biobank, universities and other partners to learn more about the prevalence and spread of the virus and for other testing research purposes, for example, on the accuracy and ease of use of home testing."
Positivityrate,Positivity rate,"The positivity rate is an estimate of the total number of people testing positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) in a given time period. This is different to the incidence rate, which is a measure of only the new infections in a given time period."
Prevalence,Prevalence,"In the context of medicine, prevalence refers to how widespread a disease is. More specifically, it refers to the total number of cases in the population at a given time."
PublicHealthAgencyNorthernIreland,Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland),"Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), established in 2009 under a major reform of health structures in Northern Ireland, it is a multi-disciplinary, multi-professional body with a strong regional and local presence with four key functions: health and social wellbeing improvement, health protection, public health support to commissioning and policy development and health and social care research and development."
PublicHeathEnglandPHE,Public Heath England (PHE),"Public Health England (PHE) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It is a distinct delivery organisation with operational autonomy to advise and support government, local authorities and the NHS in a professionally independent manner."
PublicHeathScotland,Public Heath Scotland,"Public Health Scotland is a national special health board of NHS Scotland, jointly sponsored by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) which launched on 1 April 2020."
PublicHeathWales,Public Heath Wales (PHW),"Public Health Wales is an NHS body whose purpose is to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities in Wales. It's role is to improve the quality, equity and effectiveness of healthcare services and protect people from infectious and environmental hazards."
Quarantine,Quarantine,Quarantine is a length of time or place of isolation in which people that have arrived from elsewhere place themselves to prevent the spread of disease.
Rnought,R nought,"R nought refers to the average number of people an infected person will go on to infect in a population where all individuals are susceptible to infection. In the absence of measures to slow it down, the R nought of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is thought to be between two and three, meaning that each infected person will on average infect two or three other people."
REACT,Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT),Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) refers to a study designed to track coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
SARS-CoV-2,SARS-CoV-2,"SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name given to the specific virus that causes the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and is an abbreviation of ""Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2"". SARS-CoV-2 has been colloquially referred to as “coronavirus”, although coronavirus technically refers to a type of virus that includes SARS-CoV-2 and the common cold among other things."
SPI-M,Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M),"The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) gives expert advice to the Department of Health and Social Care and wider UK government on scientific matters relating to the UK’s response to an influenza pandemic (or other emerging human infectious disease threats). The advice is based on infectious disease modelling and epidemiology. 
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Self-isolation,Self-isolation,"Self-isolation is the act of staying alone at home or in one place if somebody has or suspects they may have a disease or has knowingly come into contact with an infected person or place where infected people were present. In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the minimum period of self-isolation is 14 days, as symptoms can take this long to appear."
Seroconversion,Seroconversion,"In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), seroconversion is the incidence of antibody test results changing from negative to positive."
Serology,Serology,"Serology refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in serum. In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), this is done by analysing blood samples."
Seroprevalence,Seroprevalence,"In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), seroprevalence refers to the proportion of the population with antibodies in their blood, and it is estimated by administering blood tests. This can give us an idea of the proportion of the population who have had the virus, produced antibodies and recovered."
Seroreversion,Seroreversion,"In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), seroreversion is the incidence of antibody test results changing from positive to negative."
Shielding,Shielding,"Shielding is a measure to protect those at very high risk of severe illness by minimising interaction between them and others. This may include self-isolation, avoiding gatherings of people and taking extra hygiene measures."
Socialdistancing,Social distancing,"Social distancing, also called physical distancing, refers to measures intended to prevent the spread of a disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other."
TestandTrace,Test and Trace,Test and Trace is an NHS service that aims to test people with respiratory symptoms or symptoms associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) to find out if they have the virus and to trace close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for COVID-19. Known contacts who experience mild symptoms do not need to be tested and are advised to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days.
Vaccine,Vaccine,"A vaccine is a substance that helps the body acquire immunity and protects against certain diseases. In the case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), it helps your immune system recognise and destroy the virus during a future infection."
Virus,Virus,A virus is a submicroscopic (too small to be viewed under a normal microscope) infectious organism that replicates inside the living cells of people or animals and can cause disease.
WorldHealthOrganisationWHO,World Health Organization (WHO),"The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialised agency of the UN responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency’s governing structure and principles, states its main objective as “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health”."
ZOE,ZOE,ZOE is the name of a company carrying out the COVID Symptom Study through the use of an app.
Zoonoticdisease,Zoonotic disease,A zoonotic disease is an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to a human.