Glossary
Action tools
The tools you can find under "Action tools". They describe actions that need to be taken in epidemics.
Active surveillance
Surveillance becomes more active in an epidemic. Volunteers help to find new cases, and sometimes trace the contacts of sick people. Applying the simplified case definitions in the toolkit, they report and refer sick people for examination and treatment in health facilities.
Acute respiratory infections
These occur when germs affect the respiratory system, including the lungs, and cause an infection. These infections can also cause epidemics and may result in death, especially of very sick children who are not treated.
Anthrax
A zoonosis. Humans generally acquire the disease directly or indirectly from infected animals or occupational exposure to infected or contaminated animal products. A veterinary vaccine is effective against anthrax.
Carriers
Some people carry germs but do not become sick. Although they look healthy, these people can still pass the germs they have to others. (They are called carriers because they carry the germs in their bodies.)
Case management
What you do to care for individuals who are sick. Case management includes, for example, providing ORS if a person is suffering from diarrhoea, or managing a child with a fever. In some cases, you will need to refer sick individuals to hospital or the nearest doctor. (See also Referral.)
Chicken pox (varicella)
An acute, highly contagious disease. It is usually a mild disorder in childhood but tends to be more severe in adults. It is characterized by an itchy vesicular rash (blisters) that usually starts on the scalp and face. It is initially accompanied by fever and malaise.
Chikungunya
A viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. It causes fever and severe joint pain. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.
Cholera
A diarrhoeal disease that causes severe symptoms and large amounts of watery stools that look like “rice water”. Any person can get this type of diarrhoea, including adults.
Community message tools
The tools in your toolkit that have large drawings on them. Use them in your health promotion activities to deliver messages to the community about what people should and should not do to protect themselves.
Community-based surveillance (CBS)
A whole of society, all-hazard surveillance approach for rapidly detecting, reporting and responding to infectious diseases at community level. It involves the community in efforts to detect outbreaks of disease in remote locations that may be beyond the reach of traditional surveillance systems. CBS supports existing surveillance systems and does not replace them.
Dehydration
This occurs when a person, usually a child, loses a lot of water and minerals in his or her stools through diarrhoea. It is like “drying out”. It is very dangerous and can cause death.
Dengue fever
A disease transmitted by vector (particularly Aedes mosquitoes) that causes fever and sometimes bleeding of the gums and under the skin. Any person can suffer from this disease, but it especially affects young children. People are more at risk if they live in areas with standing water in which mosquitoes breed. (Note. Aedes mosquitoes are daytime biters and mosquito nets are therefore not a very effective protection against dengue fever. However, people sick with dengue should use nets to prevent transmission of the disease to other people in the house and community.)
Detergents/disinfectants
Very strong cleaning chemicals, such as bleach, which can eliminate or kill germs and so prevent infections from spreading.
Diphtheria
Causes a thick covering in the back of the throat. It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death. Vaccines are recommended for infants, children, teenagers and adults.
Diarrhoea or diarrhoeal disease
Occurs when a child (or an adult) passes three or more loose stools in a day. It can cause the child to lose so much body water and so many salts that he or she becomes dehydrated. This can cause death if not treated.
Disease tools
The tools you can find under "Diseases". They describe the diseases that can cause epidemics.
Dysentery
A type of diarrhoea that causes an infection of the intestines and intestinal bleeding, resulting in severe diarrhoea in which blood and mucous are present in the stools.
Ebola virus disease
A highly contagious disease transmitted by contact with the body fluids of an infected person (blood, vomit, saliva, stools, etc.), as well as by contact with the bodies of people who have died from the disease, or any object or surface that an infected person may have touched (bed sheets, surfaces, tools, etc.). It causes a very severe disease that can kill many of the people who are infected by it. The symptoms include bleeding, fever, headache and different forms of pain.
Epidemic
An epidemic occurs when many more people than usual in a community have the same infection at the same time, exceeding the community’s ability to cope.
Epidemic assessment
Collection and analysis of information about the nature, extent and cause of an epidemic. To make it possible to respond properly to the epidemic, you ask questions, collect and analyse information, and use and report the information to others. It answers the questions: Who? What? Where? When?
Epidemic risk
The likelihood that an epidemic of a disease will occur in a community. It takes account of the vulnerability of the community, the diseases that are present and the surrounding environment.
Germ
A very small organism, too small to see with human eyes, that makes people and animals sick. Germs can pass from one person or animal to another person or animal, causing a disease to spread (which may result in an epidemic).
Hand, foot and mouth disease
A common infectious disease of infants and children. It is characterized by fever, painful sores in the mouth, and a rash with blisters on hands, feet and also buttocks. It is common in many Asian countries.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
A severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory disease in humans caused by infection by a hantavirus. Anyone who comes into contact with rodents that carry hantavirus is at risk.
Health promotion
The delivery of prevention and health messages to the community in a simple, understandable and effective way that helps to prevent and control diseases and improve people’s health. It includes any activity that informs members of a community how to protect themselves from diseases and prevent diseases from spreading to others.
Hepatitis A
A liver disease caused by an infection that is transmitted by dirty hands, or through water and food that have been contaminated by the stools of people who have the disease. It causes the skin and whites of the eyes to become yellow and is accompanied by fever, tiredness, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. This disease can be prevented by vaccination.
Hepatitis E
A liver disease caused by an infection that is transmitted mainly through water that has been contaminated by the stools of people who have the disease. It causes the skin and whites of the eyes to become yellow and is accompanied by mild fever, nausea and vomiting. It very dangerous to pregnant women.
Highly contagious diseases
This group of diseases is particularly dangerous because they spread very rapidly and dynamically and extra efforts are required to control them. They include Ebola virus disease, Marburg haemorrhagic fever and Lassa fever. Some of the diseases in this category are dangerous because they are new and we are less prepared to deal with them.
HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus)
A germ that attacks the immune system (the body’s defence against diseases). HIV is present in blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids and can be transmitted through unprotected sexual contact, blood contact and from the mother to her baby.
Hygiene
Practices that protect people from getting infections from blood and certain body fluids. You should always wash your hands with soap and water after handling anything that could carry germs, after going to the toilet, and before and after eating. Avoid wiping your face or mouth with your hands. Wash and disinfect all equipment, clothes and vehicles used during an epidemic. Wear face masks, gloves or boots, if these are required and are available.
Immunity
Not all people who carry the germs that cause a particular disease fall sick. Some people can resist an infection. When this happens, the person is said to be “immune” to the disease. Immunity can be acquired in different ways. A person may become immune because he or she has been ill from the disease before; because he or she carried the germ before, without becoming ill; or because he or she has been vaccinated against the disease.
Infection
A disease that can be transmitted from one person to another. Infections are caused by different kinds of germs and can be transmitted to people in several ways.
Infection cycle
This term explains how infections occur and how one sick person can spread germs to other people in different ways. Germs may spread and infect people: (a) directly, through touching, coughing, sneezing or having sex; (b) indirectly, through a vector; or (c) indirectly, through contact with our environment or surroundings, for example with contaminated water, food, air, soil, etc.
Isolation
The separation of those who are sick from those who are not sick. Sometimes when people are very sick, we have to keep them away from other people until they are better so that they do not make more people sick.
Lassa fever
An acute viral haemorrhagic illness that occurs in West Africa. It is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated by rodent urine or faeces. Person-to-person infection can also occur, particularly in hospitals that lack adequate infection prevention and control measures.
Leptospirosis
A bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Humans become infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals or with a urine-contaminated environment (such as recreational water). The germs enter the body through cuts or abrasions on the skin, or through the mouth, nose and eyes.
Malaria
A disease transmitted by a vector (mosquitoes). It causes a fever that rises and falls, with spells of extreme heat and shivering. Anyone can suffer from this disease, which especially affects young children. People who sleep without mosquito nets and live beside water surfaces where mosquitoes lay their eggs are more at risk.
Malnutrition
A condition that occurs when people, especially children, do not have enough food to meet their needs. It is not an infection. Children who suffer malnutrition become weak and cannot resist infections. They are more likely to become sick and to die in the event of an epidemic.
Marburg haemorrhagic fever
A highly contagious disease transmitted by contact with the body fluids of an infected person (blood, vomit, saliva, stools, etc.), or through contact with the bodies of people who have died from the disease, or contact with any surface or object that an infected person may have touched (bed sheets, surfaces, tools, etc.). It causes very severe symptoms, including bleeding, fever, headache and different forms of pain and can kill many of the people who contract it.
Measles
A very infectious disease that particularly affects children. It causes a rash and fever and is passed in crowded places by droplets from coughing and sneezing. It can be prevented by vaccine. (Two doses are given by injection, starting at nine months of age, plus vitamin A drops in the mouth).
Meningitis
A severe disease that can be prevented by vaccine (an injection given in early childhood in places where the infection is a threat). There are several types of meningitis. They include bacterial meningitis (for example, meningococcal meningitis); and viral meningitis. Bacterial meningitis causes fever, headache and a stiff neck, and is passed through droplets from coughing or sneezing. Children are more likely to be affected.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-Cov)
A viral respiratory disease caused by a germ that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Although the majority of human cases of MERS-Cov have been attributed to human-to-human infections in health care settings, current scientific evidence suggests that dromedary camels are a major reservoir host for the virus and an animal source of MERS-Cov infection in humans.
Monkeypox
A rare disease that occurs primarily in remote parts of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. The monkeypox virus can cause illness and death in humans. It is transmitted to people from different wild animals but human-to-human transmission does not seem to play an important role.
Oral rehydration solution (ORS)
The main way to treat people who suffer from diarrhoea and dehydration. ORS can be prepared from packets or at home from water, sugar and salt. Follow the instructions on the packet to find out how much water you need to dilute the contents of each packet. Do not keep for more than 24 hours.
Oral rehydration point
The first level of treatment for cholera. It improves access to ORS at community level. ORP points provide rehydration solution quickly, but also screen and refer sick people. ORP can be an information hub for people in the community and collect information on the local state of an epidemic.
Mumps
Generally a mild childhood disease that usually affects children between five and nine years of age. However, the mumps virus can infect adults and, when it does, complications are more likely to be serious (meningitis, orchitis and deafness). It is prevented by vaccination.
Passive surveillance
A method used to detect epidemics at an early stage; a warning tool. During the preparedness phase, volunteers talk informally to people and health professionals in the course of their ordinary work and take note of any diseases that present in an unusual way. In essence, volunteers keep their eyes and ears open and report the unusual. (See also active surveillance.)
Personal protection equipment (PPE)
Equipment worn to protect the wearer from direct contact with sick people, their body fluids, or objects or surfaces that might transmit an infection (such as items or surfaces that may have been touched by someone who has a disease).
Plague
A severe disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected fleas, by touching or skinning infected animals, or by inhaling droplets from the cough of an infected person or animal.
Polio
A disease that causes paralysis in children. It spreads where water is contaminated with germs through infected stools, especially in overcrowded environments. It can be prevented by vaccine (injection or drops in the mouth given in infancy).
Prevention
Any activity that stops a disease from spreading. Examples include the distribution of mosquito nets, provision of clean water or vaccination campaigns. Prevention activities may benefit all the members of a community or a subgroup of people who face a specific risk.
Referral
The act of sending a sick person for medical treatment to a doctor or nurse, a local clinic or a hospital. When people become so sick during epidemics that families and volunteers can no longer provide adequate care at home, they need care and treatment by professional medical staff. Volunteers refer when they help people to reach medical professionals and health facilities, and advise people on the services they need, where to find them, and who to see.
Rift Valley fever
A disease transmitted from sick animals by a vector. It can cause bleeding of the gums and under the skin, in addition to a fever. It can also cause the skin and the whites of the eyes to become yellow (jaundice). Anyone can suffer from this disease, but it especially affects young children. People who are in close contact with infected animals are more at risk. The disease can also be transmitted by mosquito bites.
Rubella
A contagious, generally mild viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults. It is the leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects. Rubella infection in pregnant women may cause foetal death or congenital defects known as congenital rubella syndrome.
Seasonal chart
Shows the times of the year in which epidemic risks are highest in a particular area.
Social distancing
A method for preventing the spread of a disease by ensuring that healthy people remain at a distance of at least 1.5 metres from people who are sick. In an influenza outbreak, for example, social distancing can reduce the risk of an epidemic or pandemic.
Social mobilization
An activity that promotes community participation. Volunteers often take steps to encourage members of the community to participate in efforts to deal with an epidemic or adopt recommended health and hygiene practices. This is social mobilization. Volunteers are well equipped to mobilize the communities in which they live because they know them and members of the community know them.
Surveillance
A system for detecting new cases of a disease in the community and refer them to health facilities for care and treatment. Surveillance includes activities that educate people about diseases, locate sick individuals, and identify the illnesses from which they are suffering.
Tuberculosis (TB)
An infection that chiefly affects the lungs. Though it resembles them, TB is transmitted and heals much more slowly than respiratory infections. It is a serious disease but in most cases is curable. TB is an air-borne disease that spreads when people who have TB cough and pass the germs to people who do not have TB.
Typhoid fever
A systemic infection, usually contracted through ingestion of contaminated food or water. In acute form, the illness is characterized by prolonged fever, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, and constipation or sometimes diarrhoea.
Vaccine
A medicine that helps people to gain immunity against disease and resist an infection before it occurs. Some vaccines are in the form of injections and others can be given by mouth.
Vector
An insect or animal that can carry germs and spread them to humans or between humans. Examples of vectors include mosquitoes, flies, rats, bats, chickens or monkeys.
Vulnerability
In the context of health, a measure of the probability that different individuals will become sick. Germs and infectious diseases do not affect every person in the same way. Some people fall sick easily when they come into contact with germs, while others do not. (See also Immunity.)
Whooping cough (pertussis)
A highly contagious disease of the respiratory tract caused by bacteria that live in the mouth, nose and throat. Many children who are sick with pertussis have coughing spells that last four to eight weeks. The disease is most dangerous in infants and spreads easily from person to person, mainly through droplets produced by coughing or sneezing. It is preventable by vaccination.
Yellow fever
A severe viral disease that causes fever and pain and can be severe. It is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and can be prevented by vaccination. (One injection after nine months of age.) Zika virus infection A virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes. People with Zika virus infection can have symptoms that include mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache.
Zika virus infection
during pregnancy is a cause of congenital brain abnormalities, including microcephaly. It can affect the brain and is a trigger for a form of paralysis called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Zoonosis
Infectious diseases of animals or rodents that can be transmitted to humans. These diseases can cause severe illness or even death. The animals that transmit them may or may not be affected themselves.