Vocabulary and Tasks

​Pandemic Vocabulary

• outbreak (noun) – a sudden spontaneous increase or occurrence of something unwanted or undesirable (such as war or disease).

• epidemic vs pandemic (nouns) – a large outbreak of an infectious disease in a localised area (epidemic) or various parts of the world (pandemic).

• lockdown vs quarantine (noun) –restrictions on movement, travel and work (lockdown); the isolation of people or products suspected of carrying an infectious disease (quarantine).

• to flatten the curve (verb) – a number of actions taken to slow the spread of a disease in order to reduce the stress on health services and other public services.

• vaccine (noun) – a substance introduced into the body of a person to stimulate the production of antibodies that will protect them from an infectious disease.

• R-number (reproduction number) (noun) – an estimate of the amount of people one infectious person would spread the disease to, used to determine how contagious a disease is.

Using the vocabulary words above, complete the following sentences (remember to use the correct form of the word, e.g. verb conjugation or plural noun)

1. After reports of multiple infections of the coronavirus in Nottingham, the entire city was placed into   to prevent further spread.

2. After the development of a smallpox , the disease was eradicated around the world.

3. Health officials issued a public warning after an of the Zika virus was detected in hospitals in northern Brazil.

4. It is vital that government recommendations are followed in order to   . ICU capacity is already at 70% and if this figure rises, the health system will begin to collapse.

5. Measles has one of the highest   of all infectious diseases. One person with measles passes it on to a further 12 people on average.

6. The Ebola   in Western Africa failed to become a   thanks to travel restrictions placed on affected countries.

Pandemic vocabulary comprehension questions

1. How should governments and the international community respond to an outbreak of an infectious disease?

2. Which epidemics do you know about?

3. Are lockdowns and quarantines the best way of controlling a virus? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these? What alternatives can you think of?

4. What problems might there be if the curve is not flattened during an outbreak of an infectious disease?

5. Will there ever be a vaccine that can protect against all viruses? If there were, would you take it?

6. What can reduce the r-number of an infectious?