For the third time this century, a new strain of coronavirus, a family of pathogens that cause respiratory illness in birds and mammals, has jumped species and infected humans.
Having broken out in the city of Wuhan, the virus, likely spread through coughing and sneezing, has now sickened more than 4,500 people and killed at least 106 in China and the number keep counting to more and more. This virus becoming massive virus that spread worldwide. As the outbreak of the mysterious new coronavirus rapidly spreads, the Chinese authorities said on Wednesday that the official count of known cases jumped again overnight, with the death toll now exceeding 130.
China said on Wednesday that 132 people had died from the virus, which is believed to have originated in the central city of Wuhan and is spreading across the country. The previous count, on Tuesday, was 106. The number of confirmed cases increased to 5,974 on Wednesday, up from 4,515 on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission.
Most of the confirmed cases have been in the central Chinese province of Hubei, where several cities, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, have been placed under what amounts to a lockdown. Thailand has reported 14 cases of infection; Hong Kong has eight; the United States, Taiwan, Australia and Macau have five each; Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia each have reported four; Japan has seven; France has four; Canada has three; Vietnam has two; and Nepal, Cambodia and Germany each have one. There have been no deaths outside China.
Based on WHO Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Human coronaviruses usually spread from an infected person to others through the air by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands, touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands, rarely, feces (poop). Anyone can get a coronavirus infection, but young children are most likely to get infected. In the United States, infections are more common in the fall and winter.
There are seven strains of coronavirus that infect humans, according to Greg Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group. Four are common colds, but three have “pathological significance”: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and, now, the Wuhan coronavirus, formally called the 2019 novel coronavirus. “This is the third one now,” Poland said. “The previous two, SARS and MERS, were controlled with individual and population-level public health measures. No vaccine. No anti-viral. They were controlled with handwashing, face masks, isolation, etcetera. They’re not high-tech, sexy solutions, but they are basic.”
Health officials say the Wuhan virus is low-risk and probably spreads through tiny droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. The likelihood of contracting the coronavirus, and of suffering a severe case, increases among the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. It’s still early on, but Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, estimates that about 4% of people who contract the Wuhan coronavirus die from it. The moratlity rate for SARS was closer to 9 or 10%, and, for MERs, about 30 to 35%, he said.
When the first U.S. case of Wuhan coronavirus arrived at Providence, hospital staff took an abundance of caution to wear protective clothing and treat the patient in isolation, Cook said. Doctors took a lab sample from the patient, sent it to the CDC in Atlanta and received the results within 24 hours, Cook said. “The symptoms are almost the same (as the cold). There’s really not a good way to tell the difference,” Cook said. “You depend on laboratory tests.” The isolation room, which the hospital has kept up and running ever since the Ebola outbreak several years ago, has a variety of specialty features: negative air flow, a contained restroom and an adjacent room for personnel to don and doff their protective equipment. “We used exactly the same processes that we would have used for Ebola,” Cook said.
China, meanwhile, is addressing the outbreak on a large scale: Authorities in Wuhan said Friday they were constructing a 1,000-bed hospital to treat coronavirus patients. The hospital is planned for a 270,000-square-foot lot and will be completed early February. The symptoms depend on the type of coronavirus and how serious the infection is.
If you have a mild to moderate upper-respiratory infection such as the common cold, your symptoms may include runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and not feeling well overall. Some coronaviruses can cause severe symptoms. The infections may turn into bronchitis and pneumonia, which cause symptoms such as fever, which may be quite high if you have pneumonia, cough with mucus, shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness when you breathe and cough. Severe infections are more common in people with heart or lung diseases, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.
We will now talk about how the health care provider will diagnosed the corona virus. There’s a sophisticated new test called Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), which measures the amount of viral RNA, a chain of cells that carry genetic information, in a patient’s sputum, serum or blood.
That’s why all samples are being shipped to Atlanta and tested at the Centers for Disease Control labs. Also the health care provider will take your medical history, including asking about your symptoms, do a physical exam, may do blood tests and may do lab tests of sputum, a sample from a throat swab, or other respiratory specimens. Once the test is perfected and standardized, it will be released worldwide. Meanwhile, experts are now trying to build a test that is quicker, easier and cheaper — something like an HIV test, for instance, that can detect simple antibodies.
There is no specific treatment for coronaviruses – a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to pneumonia. With time, most people will recover on their own, doctors say. However, you can do some things to relieve your symptoms. You can take pain and fever medications (Caution: do not give Aspirin to children). You also can use a room humidifier or take a hot shower to help ease a sore throat and cough. If you are mildly sick, you should drink plenty of liquids and stay home and rest. However, should the virus cause a secondary bacterial infection, doctors would prescribe antibiotics, Cook said. Sometimes a ventilator may be necessary. Scientists are also investigating alternative approaches to treating the Wuhan coronavirus – including some antiviral medications and convalescent plasma treatments – but none have been FDA-approved. A vaccine, meanwhile, is still months or possibly years away. “There are no drugs that are currently approved, so everything now is experimental,” said Michael Ison, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
There is currently no vaccine to prevent 2019-nCoV infection. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, including: Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, please avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, avoid close contact with people who are sick, stay home when you are sick, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash, clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces, these are everyday habits that can help prevent the spread of several viruses.
You can also help others to prevent the virus and stop it from spreading. If you have cold-like symptoms, you can help protect others by doing the following stay home while you are sick, avoid close contact with others, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands also clean and disinfect objects and surfaces.
Speaking about coronavirus, the thing that we should remember is we should to be consistent. Keep frequently wash your hand at least 20 seconds, keep exercising, keep constantly concern about sanitation, keep wearing a mask whenever you catch a cold no matter which country that you are stayed in, and always watch carefully what you eat on your daily basis even when the hysteria of the coronavirus is disappear.
These preventive action will help you to prevent yourself from getting a flu. If you are travelling in Bali, you can visit Unicare Clinic to get the IV Vitamin Drip to stay healthy and keep going around without catching a cold. Book your shot here: https://unicare.id/our-packages/revitalize-package/
