Evolving vocabulary of vaccines, variants, and COVID-19

When society enters a new pandemic stage, 1.5 billion doses of vaccine have been administered worldwide Amid concerns about new variants, the words and phrases used to understand the ongoing public health crisis are also evolving.

Penn Today shares the third update of the COVID-19 Glossary, June 2020 And December 2020Provides insight into the ever-changing lexicon.

Virology 301

variation: A bacterial or viral subtype whose genome is different from the primary strain but is not sufficient to be considered a completely new species. The relationship between the mutant and the virus is similar to the relationship between the cultivar and the original species of the plant from which it is derived.

Currently There is no standardized way to name virus variantsFor COVID-19, variants are identified by a letter followed by a series of numbers that indicate that they belong to a subgroup of the particular variant.That variant Start from B.1.For example, it is related to a subspecies discovered when it occurred in northern Italy in the spring of 2020. World Health Organization (WHO) We do not recommend naming variants based on where they are found To avoid stigma, references to “British variants” or “South African variants” are still common.

For SARS-CoV-2 WHO And Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Specify the following three types of variants. Variant of interest, Variant of concern,and Variants with significant consequences..

A Variant of interest Genome changes are predicted to affect infection rates, viral diagnosis or detection, effective treatment, or the ability of mutants to escape the immune response. Researchers monitor the mutants of interest through genome sequencing and conduct additional laboratory and epidemiological studies to determine if these mutations have a real impact.

Is considered Variant of concern, The variant becomes more contagious, causes more serious illness, leads to a significant reduction in the immune protection generated by previous infections or vaccinations, reduces the effectiveness of treatment, or makes diagnosis or detection more There must be scientific evidence to make it difficult. Virus.

Variant of concern should be reported to WHO and additional public health measures such as increased testing and stricter social distance measurements may be required to reduce its spread. CDC is currently being tracked Five mutant strains of concern: B.1.1.7, B.1.351, B.1.427, B.1.429, and P.1.

Variant of critical results Those who have clear evidence that existing medical or preventative measures are not very effective in mitigating the disease or its effects. This can include complete failure of diagnosis, significant reduction in vaccine efficacy, and more serious illness. Currently, there are no known variants that have a significant impact on SARS-CoV-2.

Genome monitoring: Extensive genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 positive samples to track mutants.Every time a virus replicates, its genome must also be copied (in the case of SARS-CoV-2, the genome is 30,000 nucleotides), This process is prone to random errors. These mistakes can lead to mutations and the virus can more easily replicate or infect.

To detect mutants, researchers sequence the entire viral genome and examine how the gene changes over time. With information about which genes change and how they affect the biology of the virus, epidemiologists say that the emergence of new mutants can lead to increased cases, hospitalizations, or breakthrough infections. You can find out if it corresponds.Scientists set benchmarks for sequences 5% of all positive samples..

Escape mutation: Changes in the pathogen’s genome can circumvent the body’s immune response. For SARS-CoV-2 E484K mutation, Viral peplomer sequence changes have been manifested in several known variants, including the B.1.351 variant.Recent clinical trial data includes several vaccines, including: Novavax And Johnson & JohnsonWas less effective in South Africa, where E484K mutations are widespread, than in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Resumption and mitigation efforts

Vaccine certificate: Official record showing that a person has been vaccinated. For the US COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine provider fills in the details on a card issued by the CDC, but some states, private sectors, and the international travel sector are interested in development. Digital version of the so-called vaccine “passport” To facilitate vaccination verification.

Before COVID-19, WHO “yellow card” As an official vaccination record that provides information on vaccination status certified by your healthcare provider. This card is internationally recognized and is required to enter certain countries. Internationally regulated vaccinations include yellow fever, polio, and meningitis.

KN95: A type of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR). Similar to N95 mask However, it goes through a different authentication channel.

Certified N95 masks are designed to remove over 95% of 0.1-0.3 micron (tick and pollen particle size) particles containing bacteria and viruses. In the United States, the N95 mask is National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health..

KN95 masks are made using the same materials and design concepts as N95 masks, but are evaluated and scored according to Chinese standards.While they are Increasingly popular, They are not believed to provide the same level of protection from inhalation of small airborne particles.

Hygiene Theater: Excessive cleaning and hygiene measures in public spaces, businesses, or private homes that provide a sense of health and safety without actually reducing the risk of COVID-19. Countermeasures include over-cleaning high-contact surfaces, closing rooms and buildings for thorough cleaning, and banning cash transactions.

Recently released by CDC Latest guidance on disinfecting spaces“Based on available epidemiological data and studies of environmental transmission factors, surface transmission is not considered to be the major pathway for SARS-CoV-2 to spread and is considered to be of low risk.”

Anxiety about re-entry: Uncertainty or anxiety about resuming pre-pandemic activity, even after the restrictions have been lifted and people have been vaccinated.Advice from Anxiety treatment specialist Follow the CDC guidelines without going “beyond” the recommendations, create a decision tree to help you organize your activities safely, and “Worry about spirals.. ”

Vaccination and immunity

Viral vector vaccine: A biopharmacy that uses a harmless version of another virus, called a vector, to provide immunity to the virus and give the body instructions on how to make antibodies that can fight the infection. The vector itself does not cause infection because it does not contain other genes that the virus needs to replicate.

For COVID-19, four viral vector vaccines, Johnson & Johnson, Oxford / AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and CanSino, have been approved in different countries or are being tested in late stages. These vaccines carry the genetic information for the SARS-CoV-2 peplomer within the adenovirus vector.

Adenovirus Is a type of double-stranded DNA virus found in many vertebrate species, including humans, and causes a variety of diseases.Adenovirus has been developed as a vector for several types of vaccines, including vaccines under development for both. MERS And Zika.. Due to the large number of neutralizing antibodies against common human adenovirus in the body, some vaccines under development, such as the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, use modified chimpanzee adenovirus. ..

Other approaches to developing vaccines include Inactivated Virus version. These vaccines contain viruses that can no longer replicate, but have markers that the human body can use to develop an immune response, such as the COVID-19 peplomer. Some inactivated vaccines approved for late-stage trials or early use include China’s Sinopharm, Sinovac, Sinopharm-Wuhan, and India’s Bharat Biotech.

There is also Protein-based vaccine COVID-19 including Novavax vaccine under development. These vaccines are made up of nanoparticles interspersed with SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins.

The first two vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are both RNA-based vaccine.. These use messenger RNA (mRNA). It is taken up by cells and becomes a protein (in this case SARS-CoV-2 spike protein) that stimulates the immune response and protects it from future infections. This technology platform Previous study of mRNA in the pen..

Side effects: Secondary or unintended effects of treatment on what the treatment is designed to do. For COVID-19 vaccine Commonly reported side effects Includes vaccinated arm pain, redness, or swelling. Tiredness; headache; myalgia; chills; fever; or nausea, side effects are more often reported after the second dose in the double dose series.

In the United States Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) It tracks not only the reported side effects, but also more serious health problems known as adverse events that occur after a person has been vaccinated. Additional follow-up and monitoring will be conducted by the CDC, FDA, and vaccine policy makers if patterns of potential association between adverse events and vaccines emerge. This monitoring system Suspension of deployment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine This past spring.

Breakthrough infection: When a person vaccinated against an illness gets sick. Causes include biological factors such as failure of the vaccine itself before vaccination due to storage or administration errors, viral mutations that allow the immune system to escape, or age that weakens a person’s immune system.

For COVID-19 CDC defines breakthrough infectious diseases SARS-CoV-2 infection more than 14 days after complete receipt of the recommended series of doses, 2 weeks after the second dose of Pfizer and Moderna, 2 weeks after the single dose of Johnson & Johnson As positive.

Booster dose: Additional administration of the vaccine first or after administration of the primer. Boosters are designed to re-expose the body to specific antigens to enhance immune protection.

Boosters are useful because the immune system can lose antigen memory over time due to antibody degradation. For example, the tetanus vaccine requires booster immunization every 10 years for this reason. In addition, boosters can stimulate the immune system against the virus as it evolves. For example, influenza viruses mutate frequently, so influenza vaccines are updated annually to protect individuals from the most common mutations that are prevalent each year.

For COVID-19, it is not yet known how long the immune vaccine will last, or whether the emergence of new variants will require an updated booster to provide full protection.

Universal vaccine: A biopharmacy that provides immunity to all strains of a particular type of virus.A few Universal influenza vaccine Currently under development and some work has begun for development Universal coronavirus vaccine It works against viruses that cause COVID-19, SARS, and MERS.

Any suggestions for additional words or phrases to add to the list?Please contact us Erica Brockmeyer..