Glossary

The below glossary seeks to define the meanings of various specialised terms relating to pandemics and the wider group of H2020 projects.

 

5R – 5R is a term that stands for Reflect (on shared social identity), Represent (“us” and our goals), Realize (shared identity in plans and policy). Reinforce (shared identity through ongoing action), Ready (the Group for mobilization).

 

Asymptomatic – This means that an individual who has contracted a disease is suffering from no effects of the illness at that point in time.

 

Attack Rate – The attack rate describes the percentage of an at-risk population that contracts a particular disease during a specific time interval.

 

Basic Reproduction Number – The basic reproduction number / R-Value of an infection is the expected number of cases that one case will generate in a population where all individuals are susceptible to infection.

 

Biosafety – Biosafety describes the use of special procedures and safety equipment to ensure that workers, the community, and the environment are protected from infectious matter and biological hazards.

 

Biosecurity – Biosecurity describes the prevention of disease-causing matter from entering or leaving any place where they could pose a threat to life.

 

Breakthrough Infection – A breakthrough infection is one that occurs despite the patient being vaccinated against a specific disease.

 

Case Definition – In epidemiology, a case definition describes the clinical criteria by which health professionals determine if a person’s illness is included as a case in an outbreak investigation.

 

CLEME – This stands for Community Led Ebola Management and Eradication.

 

CMT – This stands for Crisis Management Team.

 

COMBI – This stands for Communication for behavioural impact.

 

Consortium – This refers to the PANDEM-2 consortium. Led by NUI Galway, the PANDEM-2 consortium consists of 19 partner organisations with expertise across technology, research, public health and pandemic management from across the EU.

 

Cumulative Incidence – Cumulative incidence represents the risk of a disease or event over particular periods of time. The number of new events or cases of disease is divided by the total number of individuals in the population at risk for a specific time interval.

 

D – D refers to Deliverable

 

Dashboard – A dashboard is a visual display of data. Its primary function is to provide a large amount of information in an easily digestible manner.

 

Data analytics – Data analytics is the science of analyzing raw data in order to emerge with conclusions about that information.

 

Data integration – Data integration describes the process of bringing data from different sources together to provide a more unified view.

 

Data source – A data source refers to the location where data that is being used originates from.

 

Data standardization – Data standardization is the process of converting data into a format that allows for comparison, collaborative research, sharing of tools and methodologies, etc.

 

Doffing – Doffing means taking off an item of clothing (normally PPE in the context of pandemics).

 

DOI – This stands for Digital Object Identifier

 

Donning – Donning means putting on an item of clothing (normally PPE in the context of pandemics).

 

Endemic – Endemic describes the state of a disease common in a certain area or among a certain group of people.

 

Epidemic – An epidemic is a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease.

 

Epidemic Curve – An epidemic curve displays the progression of illnesses in an outbreak over time.

 

Epidemiological indicator – Epidemiological indicators provide information on the exposure to and prevention of occupational risks in the workplace and on health outcome.

 

ERC – This stands for Emergency risk communication

 

First Responders – A first responder is an individual with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and help at the scene of an emergency.

 

Incubation Period – The Incubation Period is the length of time it takes between a person becoming infected with a disease and showing symptoms.

 

ISBN – This stands for International Standard Book Number

 

MERS  – This stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

 

Metadata – Metadata is a data set that functions to describe other data.

 

Mortality Rate – This refers to the percentage of cases of a disease that result in death.

 

Non-Traditional Data Source – Non-traditional data comes from such sources as satellite observation, mobile telecommunications, social networks, and citizen-generated data.

 

Off-Label Use – This refers to the prescription of a drug for a condition other than the one for which it has been officially approved.

 

Open- Source – This refers to software which is made freely available and accessible to the public.

 

Pandemic – A pandemic is an outbreak of a disease that has spread across an entire country or several countries.

 

Pandemic management – This is the handling of outbreaks of a disease that spread across an entire country or several countries.

 

PANDEM-Source – An IT solution that will support the work of pandemic managers by facilitating an efficient response to future pandemics across the European Union.

 

Participatory surveillance – Participatory surveillance is community- based monitoring of other individuals.

 

Patient Zero – Patient Zero refers to the first person identified as a carrier of a communicable disease amongst an outbreak of cases of that disease.

 

Pneumonia – Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs’ air sacs which may fill with fluid, causing symptoms such as a cough, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing.

 

Prepare Cluster – Ten EU funded H2020 projects, with a combined funding of €72 million, have united to form the PREparedness and resPonse for emergency situAtions in euRopE (PREPARE) cluster. Each of the ten projects is tackling challenges specifically looking at the preparedness and response phases of crisis management and working together we aim to achieve stronger results and greater impact for our cause.

 

Q – Q refers to Question

 

RCCE  – This stands for Risk Communication & Community Engagement

 

R- Value / Basic Reproduction Number – The basic reproduction number / R- Value of an infection is the expected number of infection cases that one case will generate in a population where all individuals are susceptible to infection.

 

SARS – This stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

 

SARS-CoV-2 – This is the scientific name for the COVID-19 virus.

 

SEIR- Model – The SEIR – Model is a disease outbreak modelling technique. The population is assigned to one of various compartments – Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, or Recovered.

 

Sequencing – Sequencing means arranging data in a particular order.

 

SIR-Model – The SEIR – Model is a disease outbreak modelling technique. Such techniques are often applied to the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. The population is assigned to one of various compartments – Susceptible, Infectious, or Recovered.

 

Situational Awareness – Situational Awareness means being conscious of what is happening around oneself, such as where one is, where one is supposed to be, and whether anyone or anything in the vicinity is a threat to one’s health and safety.

 

Social Media Mining – Social media mining is the process of obtaining big data from user- generated content on social media sites to extract patterns, form conclusions, and act upon the extracted information.

 

SPRP – This stands for Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan

 

T – T refers to Task

 

Tabletop exercise – Tabletop exercises refer to discussion- based sessions where team members meet in an informal classroom setting to discuss their roles during an emergency and their responses to a particular emergency situation.

 

Time series – A time series is a series of data points listed in time order.

 

Traditional data source – Traditional data comes from sources such as surveys, censuses, and administrative records with statistical potential.

 

Traditional surveillance data – Traditional disease surveillance surrounds data collected by health institutions, typically including such information as morbidity and mortality data, laboratory reports, individual case reports, surveys, demographic data etc.

 

TWRC – This stands for two – way risk communication

 

WoS – This stands for Web of Science

 

WP  – This stands for Work Package

 

Zoonotic – This means a virus can spread between humans and animals.