Epidemiologists and ID specialists spend a lot of time talking to patients and the public about disease transmission dynamics. Communicating nuances, varied terminology, and the uncertainties isn't new but something we can always improve.(1/3)

A piece to this is also discussing how terms carry different meanings across multiple fields. What this means is that 2 things need to happen - collaboration across fields to discuss these nuances, and ensuring we communicate them effectively to the public (scicomm). (2/3).

Effective communication regarding uncertainties in COVID-19 is critical. The brilliant Drs. @neva9257 and Kilianski spoke to this in 2015 regarding Ebola - https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005097 (3/3)

"Not all of the scicomm, however, was accurate/effective. There were multiple instances of articles during the height of the outbreak containing potentially misleading scientific language that spurred media overreaction & potentially jeopardized prep/policy decisions at crtcl pts