COVID Flashcards
What does endemic mean?
disease very common within a specific area
e.g. malaria in Nigeria
What is an outbreak?
more cases than you’d expect in a specific area
What is an epidemic?
more cases than you’d expect over a wider geographical area
What is a pandemic?
cases in numerous countries worldwide
What is a variant of interest?
changes to initial virus and means it can transmit a lot easier between people and sometimes can cause a more severe disease
evasion of immune system
What is a variant of concern?
have increased transmissibility
cause more serious infection
cause reinfection or infection in immunised
What is a variant of high consequence?
no protection from vaccines
What is covid’s proper name?
SARS 2 - Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome
Give characteristics of corona virus?
‘crown like’ projections on surfaces
enveloped, RNA based
structural proteins
What is meant by zoonotic?
can affect animals and spread from them
What is coronavirus in fact ?
beta
(alpha, beta , gamma and delta)
what virus types are associated with bats?
alpha and beta
what virus type is associated with birds?
gamma
What virus type is associated with pigs?
delta
Transmission of Covid?
coughing, sneezing, touch
What is the difference between viruses and bacteria?
viruses need to replicate within cells - can’t replicate separate. Virus hijacks enzymes from humans
VS.
bacteria can grow itself
How do viruses infect?
enter via resp tract
enter host cell by attaching to receptor
using enzymes from host cell
repackaging new virus which leaves cell to infect other cells in body
What do T cells do?
go directly towards virus and try kill it
What do b cells do?
produce antibodies
What is the receptor that SARS COV 2 uses to enter cells?
ACE2
What was the mutation in covid?
an amino acid changed from D(aspartate) to G (Glycine)
What did covid cause?
pneumonitis- inflammation of the lungs
hypoxic
Common corona virus symptoms?
rhinorrhea (nasal drip)
general malaise
headache
sore throat
cough
fever
Investigations?
lateral flow test- looking for antigens to see if binds to antibodies on the paper
PCR- cycles of heat to amplify protein
antibody tests-
