COVID-19 Flashcards
What are the variants of concern?
Observed to have -
Greater transmissibility.
More serious infection.
Reinfection or infections in the immunised.
What are the variants of high consequence?
No protection from vaccines.
What is the Omicron variant of COVID-19?
Has 30+ spike protein mutations.
Increased ability to infect cells.
What are the importance of vaccinations for COVID-19?
Infection has increased, especially in the unvaccinated.
Death caused by COVID-19 is more common in the unvaccinated.
300+ vaccines are being developed for COVID-19.
What are molecular COVID-19 tests?
Nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs.
Sensitive, specific, and effective.
Slow, expensive, and specialised.
What are antigen COVID-19 tests?
Nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs.
Rapid, minimal training, cheaper.
Less sensitive.
What are serology COVID-19 tests?
Blood.
For late diagnosis.
Non-specific, false negatives.
What is COVID-19?
A URTI syndrome that causes systemic illness.
Can cause bronchitis and bronchiolitis.
Severe fatal infections and multi-organ failure can occur.
How can you treat COVID-19?
Corticosteroids.
IL-6 receptor blockers or Baricitinib.
What is more common in the unvaccinated?
Acute symptoms.
Prolonged illness.
Hospitalisation.
How is COVID-19 spread?
Through droplets and close contact with people who have the virus.
What are the clinical presentations of COVID-19?
Cough, myalgia, headache, fever.
Abnormalities in smell or taste.
What is the role of infection control practitioners?
They plan, develop, implement, coordinate and evaluate system-wide improvements in IPC.
What is herd immunity?
The idea that, vaccinated individuals are less likely to be a source of infection for unvaccinated individuals.
What are variants of interest?
People have genetic traits which predict -
Greater transmissibility.
More serious infection.
Evasion of immune system or testing.
