some difficult words from editorials , which is important and very helpful for IBPS PO/CLERK/LIC AAO/RRB & SSC CGL EXAM and other exams !!!
The outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus around Kozhikode, Kerala, is a test of India’s capacity to respond to public health emergencies. In 2018, the World Health Organisation listed Nipah as one of the 10 priority pathogens needing urgent research, given its ability to trigger lethal outbreaks and the lack of drugs available against it. As an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus, Nipah has an exceptional rate of mutation — that is, it can easily adapt to spread more efficiently among humans than it does now. Such an adaptation would result in a truly dangerous microbe. Nipah already kills up to 70% of those it infects, through a mix of symptoms that include encephalitis, a brain inflammation marked by a coma state, disorientation, and long-lasting after-effects, such as convulsions, in those who survive. Thankfully, in most outbreaks in South Asia so far the virus has displayed a “stuttering chain of transmission”. This means that once the virus spreads from fruit bats, its natural reservoir, to humans, it moves mainly to people in close contact with patients, such as hospital staff and family caregivers. But these caregivers are at high risk, because the sicker the patients become, the more virus they secrete. Preliminary reports suggest that the Kozhikode outbreak is also displaying a stuttering chain of transmission. Of the 11 confirmed Nipah fatalities, three were from the same family. While researchers are still investigating how they were exposed, a bat colony living in a well in the family’s yard is a strong suspect.
This fits in with how outbreaks have historically begun in the subcontinent. In a 2007 outbreak in Nadia, West Bengal, for example, patient zero is believed to have acquired the virus from palm liquor contaminated by bat droppings. The next wave of infections have historically occurred among close contacts and caregivers, such as nurses; the same pattern has been detected in Kozhikode as well. But these are preliminary reports, and new information may change what we know about the present virus. Several patients with symptoms of infection are under observation. Only when clinical investigations are complete can it be determined how contagious the virus really is. If it is found travelling over long distances, the authorities will have to be ready with strategies to combat its spread. The good news is that Kerala’s public health systems have acted with extraordinary efficiency so far. Doctors identified the virus in the very second patient, a diagnostic speed unrivalled in developing countries. This must be commended. But big challenges remain. The death of a nurse shows that health-care workers may not be taking adequate precautions when dealing with patients, by using masks and following a strict hand-wash regimen. The virus has no specific treatment. The best defences against it are the age-old principles of infection control, which Indian hospitals have not mastered as yet. Kerala’s health authorities must ensure these principles are widely adopted, and no preventable transmission takes place.
1. Mutation (noun) : परिवर्तन
Meaning : the action or process of mutating.
Synonyms : alteration, anomaly, change, deviant, deviation, evolution, innovation, modification, mutant, novelty, permutation, transfiguration, transformation, variation, vicissitude.
Antonyms : inaction, stagnation.
Usage : the mutation of punk’s angry energy into something more thuggish and mindless.
2. Disorientation (noun) : भटकाव
Meaning : the condition of having lost one’s sense of direction.
Synonyms : bafflement,confusion,daze, discombobulation,disorientation, perplexity,surprise.
Antonyms : clarity,order,organization,orientation,sense.
Usage : as we walked on into the night, an air of total disorientation descended.
3. Convulsions (noun) : आक्षेप
Meaning : a sudden, violent, irregular movement of the body, caused by involuntary contraction of muscles and associated especially with brain disorders such as epilepsy, the presence of certain toxins or other agents in the blood, or fever in children.
Synonyms : algospasm, attack, contortion, contraction, cramp, epilepsy, fit, paroxysm, seizure, throe, tremor.
Antonyms : harmony, peace.
Usage : toxic side effects like convulsions.
4. Stuttering (Noun) : हकलाना
Meaning : talk with continued involuntary repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants.
Synonyms : abashed, apologetic, bashful, blushing, chagrined, compunctious, conscience-stricken, contrite, crestfallen, debased, demeaned, discomfited, disconcerted, distraught, distressed, embarrassed, flustered, guilty, hesitant, humble, humbled, humiliated, meek, mortified, muddled, penitent, regretful, reluctant, repentant, shamed, shamefaced, sheepish, shy, sorry, stammering, stuttering, submissive.
Antonyms : bold, defiant, immodest, not sorry, shameless, unregretful, unremorseful, unself-conscious.
Usage : the child was stuttering in fright.
5. outbreak (adjective) : प्रकोप
Meaning : a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease.
Synonyms : beginning, blowup, brawl, break, breaking, burst, bursting, commencement, commotion, convulsion, crack, crash, dawn, detonation, discharge, disorder, disruption, ebullition, effervescence, epidemic, eruption, explosion, fit, flare-up, flash, fury, gush, gushing, insurrection, irruption, mutiny, onset, outburst, outpouring, paroxysm, plague, rebellion, rending, revolution, roar, sally, sortie, spasm, spurt, storm, sundering, surge, thunder, tumult, uprising, volley
Antonyms : conclusion, end, finale.
Usage : the outbreak of World War II.
6. Contagious (adjective) : संक्रामक
Meaning : (of a disease) spread from one person or organism to another, typically by direct contact.
Synonyms : catching, deadly, endemic, epidemic, epizootic, impartible, infectious, inoculable, pestiferous, pestilential, poisonous, spreading, taking, transmissible, transmittable.
Antonyms : noncommunicable.
Usage : a contagious disease.
7. Combat (noun) : युद्ध
Meaning : fighting between armed forces.
Synonyms : action, affray, battle royal, brush, brush-off, conflict, contest, encounter, engagement, fight, flap, fray, jackpot, mix-up, run-in, service, shoot-out, skirmish, struggle, war, warfare.
Antonyms : accord, compromise, peace, retreat, surrender, truce.
Usage : five Hurricanes were shot down in combat.
8. Unrivalled (adjective) : बेजोड़
Meaning : better than everyone or everything of the same type.
Synonyms : beyond compare, excellent, exceptional, ideal, inimitable, matchless, paramount, peerless, perfect, preeminent, second to none, sovereign, superior, supreme, surpassing, towering, transcendent, ultimate, unequalled, unmatchable, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivalled, unsurpassable.
Antonyms : common, inferior, lowly, poor, unimpressive.
Usage : the paper’s coverage of foreign news is unrivalled.
9. Commended (verb) : प्रशस्त
Meaning : praise formally or officially.
Synonyms : address, appoint, assign, authorize, commend to, commission, commit, confide, convey, delegate, deliver, deposit with, dispatch, forward, give, issue, put in charge of, relegate, remit, route, send, ship, transfer, transmit, turn over.
Antonyms : hold, keep, receive, retain.
Usage : he was commended by the judge for his courageous actions.
10. Adopted (verb) : गोद लिया
Meaning : choose to take up or follow (an idea, method, or course of action).
Synonyms: local, national, native.
Antonyms : disown, leave alone, reject, repudiate, repulse.
Usage : this approach has been adopted by many big banks.
