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Glossary of COVID-19 Terms and Phrases

This resource is intended for APIAHF partner organizations, community members, state and local health departments, and other community-based organizations seeking COVID-19 terms, phrases, and specific terminology for developing and creating in-language materials for Asian American communities. Users can scroll through the respective language table and find translated terms and phrases in Korean, Bengali, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.

This resource is updated on a rolling basis and was last updated on August 17, 2021.

For technical assistance on how to use the glossary and to request additional terms, please contact APIAHF.

English

Term
Definition
Infectious:
Capable of spreading disease.
Isolation:
The separation of a person or group of people known or reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease and potentially infectious from those who are not infected to prevent spread of the communicable disease (3).
Multigenerational Household:
Households that consist of more than two generations living under the same roof (3).
Outbreak:
The occurrence of cases of disease in excess of what would normally be expected in a defined community, geographical area, and/or season, but in lower than epidemic numbers.
Probable COVID-19 Case:
Report of person meeting clinical and epidemiologic evidence of COVID-19 but without confirmatory laboratory evidence (3).
Quarantine:
The separation of a person or group of people reasonably believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease but not yet symptomatic from others who have not been so exposed to prevent the possible spread of the communicable disease (3).
Side Effect:
Undesirable reaction resulting from immunization.
Social distancing:
The practice of increasing the space between individuals and decreasing their frequency of contact to reduce the risk of spreading a disease; ideally to maintain at least 6 feet between all individuals, even those who are asymptomatic (4).
Susceptible:
Unprotected against disease.
Symptomatic:
Showing signs of disease or injury, or it may concern a specific symptom (5).
Vaccine Efficacy:
Refers to vaccine protection measured in RCTs usually under optimal conditions where vaccine storage and delivery are monitored and participants are usually healthy.
Vaccine confidence:
The trust that patients, their families, and providers have in: Recommended vaccines; providers who administer vaccines; and processes and policies that lead to vaccine development, licensure or authorization, manufacturing, and recommendations for use (2).
English

References
1. American Public Health Association. (n.d.). Community Health Workers. AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH

ASSOCIATION. https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/member-sections/community-health-workers.


2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, June 3). Building Confidence in COVID-19

Vaccines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccinate-with-confidence.html#:~:text=Vaccine%20confidence%20is%20the%20trust,%2C%20and%20recommendations%20for%20use.

 

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Appendices. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/contact-tracing/contact-tracing-plan/appendix.html.


4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Guidance on Management of Coronavirus Disease

2019 (COVID-19) in Correctional and Detention Facilities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/correction-detention/guidance-correctional-detention.html.


5. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2021, July 2). Symptomatic: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.

MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002293.htm#:~:text=Symptomatic%20can%20mean%20showing%20symptoms,signs%20of%20disease%20or%20injury.&text=When%20someone%20has%20the%20common,symptoms%2C%20the%20person%20is%20asymptomatic.


This resource is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3,300,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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