Several international health agencies established an updated terminology for pathogens that cause respiratory infections such as COVID-19, influenza, measles, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), among others, it was reported recently.

Geneva.- The “Report on the Global Technical Consultation on Proposed Terminology for Airborne Pathogens” was established thanks to collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa, China, Europe, and the United States of America.

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Global technical consultation report on proposed terminology for pathogens that transmit through the air

According to the WHO text, the agreement highlights the collective commitment by public health organizations to move forward to break new ground in research agendas and implement public health interventions to detect, report, and respond to existing and new pathogens.

It thus states that people infected by a respiratory pathogen may generate and expel infectious particles containing the pathogen through the mouth or nose when breathing, talking, singing, spitting, coughing, or sneezing.

“These particles should be described by the term “respiratory infectious particles” or RIPs,” the document states. (PL)