Читать книгу The Essential Pandemic Survival Guide - Tim MacWelch - Страница 16

06

basics

What is a “super spreader”? This is a person who infects a disproportionately high number of people, compared tonumber of people infected by the average sick person. In some of the cases of super-spreading, these infected people conform to the 20/80 rule. This means that roughly 20% of infected individuals cause up to 80% of the illness transmissions. A frightening proposition, if the disease is lethal. Perhaps the best known super spreader was Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary. Mallon was a cook for a number of different families in New York City. She was an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, a potentially deadly disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. Mallon infected 51 people between 1902 to 1909. Three of those infected died from the illness. She was eventually placed under involuntarily quarantine (locked up) by public health authorities at Brothers Island in New York, until her death in 1938. If you don’t have strong COVID-19

symptoms, but everyone around you gets sick after your

close contact—you might be a super spreader. All the

more reason for everyone to stay the hell at home.

BEWARE THESUPER SPREADER

ISOLATION Methods used to separate patients infected with a communicable disease to isolate them from healthy persons,

usually in a healthcare setting.

LOCKDOWN A government order preventing people from entering or leaving a specific area without special permission

or performing essential functions.

OUTBREAK A sudden rise in the number of cases of a disease

in a specific region.

PANDEMIC An epidemic that crosses international boundaries,

affecting people on a multiple continents.

PPE This stands for “Personal Protective Equipment,” the specialized clothing and equipment such as masks and hazmat suits used as a safeguard against physical, chemical,

or biological hazards.

QUARANTINE Separating and restricting the movement of

people exposed (or potentially exposed) to a contagious disease.

R0=X Pronounced “R-naught,” an estimate of the average

number of new cases of a disease that each infected person

generates. R0 estimates for the virus that causes COVID-19 are R0=~2-3, which is slightly higher than that for seasonal flu (R0=~1.2-1.3), but far lower than more contagious diseases

such as measles (R0=~12-18).

SHELTER IN PLACE A directive issued by local, state or national government in which residents are either asked or ordered to remain at their place of residence, except to

conduct essential activities.

SOCIAL DISTANCING Measures taken to reduce person-to-person contact in order to stop or slow down the spread of a

contagious disease.

ZOONOSIS The process by which an infectious disease caused by a pathogen jumps from n animals to humans. More than

two-thirds of human viruses are thought to be zoonotic.

Infectedperson

Average people infected

COVID-19 2-3 new cases per infected person