What is Coronavirus(2019-nCov)?

What is coronavirus? How serious is it? Something you may want to know about.

The pathogen of unexplained pneumonia in Wuhan, China has been preliminarily identified as a new type of coronavirus. The next step needs to be combined with etiology research, epidemiological investigation and clinical performance for expert study. What is coronavirus? What does it have to do with SARS? Is it serious? And what should we do? I've chosen a few questions about coronavirus to give you a higher comprehension of the pathogen and the epidemic surrounding it.

1. What is coronavirus(2019-nCov)?

Coronavirus is a general term for a large class of viruses. Under an electron microscope, its surface can be observed to have “corona-like” protrusions, named because they look like a crown. The goal of the virus is clear: to find the right cells, replicate quickly, and infect more. Coronavirus cells can  mutate rapidly as well as evolve during the process. There are two characteristics of coronavirus: high probability of mutation. It is a single stranded RNA virus, so it has no gene repair function, meaning it can only fail if it is copied incorrectly. Therefore, coronavirus is more likely to mutate and change the scope of infection than other viruses. In addition to humans, different coronaviruses can infect pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, camels, bats, mice and other mammals, as well as chickens, pigeons and other birds. Such characteristics provide favorable conditions for its evolution and transmission.

2. Is the coronavirus harmful?

Not all coronaviruses are bad. When it comes to coronavirus, we naturally think of SARS（it is a pathogen that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and has spread all over the world from winter 2002 to spring 2003. In fact, coronavirus is very common and can be divided into many types, all with different consequences. Before the Wuhan pneumonia, there were six types of coronavirus that could infect human beings.Four of them are relatively common, but they are not easy to cause disease, and they are the second most common cause of common colds with mild symptoms. The other two are the well-known SARS Coronavirus and mers coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus), which can cause serious respiratory diseases but are not common.


3. Will the new coronavirus become the next SARS?

Coronavirus cannot bear high temperatures; hot water above 60 ℃ can kill the virus within half an hour. UV, Lysol water, 75% ethanol and 0.1% Peracetic acid can kill the coronavirus in a short time as well.
The Simple SIR model was used to simulate the transmission of pneumonia in Wuhan with SARS parameters. The main conclusion was that the peak of pneumonia occurs at about 90 days after the outbreak of the virus. The first case was discovered on December 8, the outbreak starts after 50 days (January 20, relatively consistent), the peak starts after 90 days(expected in early March), peak ends after 4 months (early April), and the epidemic ended in early May. So far, the model is consistent.

The incubation period of the new coronavirus in Wuhan is similar to that of SARS, but the symptoms are mild; some of them have no fever during the early stages and the mortality rate is relatively low. However, it is not easy to find, and the opportunity for potential spreading is relatively large.

The source of the virus was not found.
Time and place of the outbreak: Hubei, and the time coincides with the Spring Festival (which made population denser) .
The third version of the treatment plan released by the Health Care Commission focuses on symptomatic and supportive treatment. There is no drug for treatment.
However, after SARS, public relations and health have been given more attention, and the response strategies and organizational supports have been developed.

By 2020-02-08 10:15 a.m., 34673 cases had been confirmed. 724 have died and 2375 have been cured. There were 12 confirmed cases and 724 deaths in the United States. You can check the real-time virus status.

4. How is coronavirus transmitted?

Coronavirus is very sensitive to temperature, and it occurs most commonly in winter and early spring. Its common modes of transmission are divided into four categories: air transmission between people, through the respiratory tract or aerosol transmission; physical contact between people, such as a handshake; contact between mouths, noses, or eyes with hands after touching contaminated objects; and fecal pollution (rare). At present, the seasonal characteristics of this new coronavirus are not clear and need to be verified scientifically.

5. What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus? How do I distinguish the common flu from coronavirus symptoms?

The main manifestation of the new coronavirus pneumonia is still fever, which can be combined with mild dry cough, fatigue, poor breathing, diarrhea, or other symptoms. Runny nose, expectoration, and other symptoms are rare. Influenza and the common cold are the main causes of these symptoms, so it can be difficult to tell which illness is at large. Half of the coronavirus patients developed dyspnea one week after original symptoms, and severe victims rapidly developed into acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, metabolic acidosis, and coagulation dysfunction. Some patients had mild symptoms (no fever or other clinical symptoms) and recovered after 1 week. The results showed that the patients with mild fever could recover quickly after the virus was removed by the natural processes of the autoimmune system. Here’s a small checklist for you:

If your symptoms consist of a runny nose, stuffy nose, and sore throat, then you likely have an upper respiratory tract infection (cold), not a lower respiratory tract infection (pneumonia). Please isolate yourself and take cold medicine.

If you cough with sputum, whether it be yellow phlegm, green sputum, thick sputum, or foam sputum, you probably are dealing with other pathogens, not nCoV.

If you have dry cough, fever, chest pain, dyspnea, and other typical symptoms of pneumonia,you are one step closer to nCoV than your friends above. However, don't worry too much. There are three traditional pneumonias: bacterial pneumonia, mycoplasma pneumonia, and viral pneumoniaNonetheless, these symptoms are not fun, so no matter what you have you should self-isolate and visit the hospital as soon as you can.

Note: The staffers of the Cad are in no way medical doctors. This is simply a list which we believe best summarizes the symptoms of common illnesses right now. If you are genuinely concerned, please seek counsel from the Health and Wellness Center.

6. How long is the incubation period?

According to present information, the incubation period of the new virus is 5-12 days. In reference to the similar SARS CoV and mers cov, the incubation period of SARS virus is usually 2-7 days, some cases can be as long as 10, though a few cases have been reported as long as 14 days. The incubation period of mers virus is usually 5-6 days, but can be as short as 2 days or as long as 14. In this outbreak, the medical observation period seen in the mainland of China, Hong Kong, and Japan has been 14 days. Because the new coronavirus is a newly discovered pathogen, the incubation period can only be estimated by statistics of exposure history or contact history of confirmed cases. However, the virus is still in the stage of rapid mutation, and the exposure and contact histories of many cases remain unclear, resulting in a large statistical range.

7. What’s the treatment?

Treatment consists of antivirals, antibiotics, and hormones. At present, there is no specific antiviral drug for the new coronavirus, so the treatment is mainly symptomatic and supportive as to avoid blind or inappropriate antimicrobial treatment.

Specific antiviral drugs refer only to the unique characteristics of a specific virus. When no specific antiviral drugs can be used, broad-spectrum antiviral drugs can be. Therefore, some doctors have prescribed interferon aerosol inhalation, lopinavir / ritonavir, neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir), and other drugs. Patients with mild illness can be given antibiotics such as moxifloxacin or azithromycin intravenously or orally for community-acquired pneumonia. For severe or critical patients, empiric antimicrobials are given to treat all possible pathogens. For patients with sepsis, antimicrobial agents are given within one hour of the initial patient assessment.


8. Which groups are at the highest risk?

According to current results, the amount of viruses the patient has been exposed to is very important. If exposed to a large number of viruses, even young adults with normal immune function can be infected. Young adults may have severe inflammatory reactions after being infected, and they are prone to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The elderly with poor immune function, people with diseases (diabetes, tumor, AIDS, etc.), and people with liver or kidney dysfunction require extra attention. These people are often already seriously ill and get worse quickly after infection. At present, infection within children and infants is less common and their symptoms are lighter.

5. How do I prevent coronavirus infection?

Right now, Chinese cities with high coronavirus prevalence have been closed, and the government has sent a large quantity of medical aid. All airports in China have implemented very strict control, and each entry-exit personnel is subject to independent inspection to prevent the spread of the virus. Ordinary residents are strongly advised to stay at home for an incubation period of 2 cycles (i.e. 28 days). Basically, you don't have to worry too much because the spread of the virus has been controlled.

However, if you’re feeling extra careful, you can take the following measures to protect yourself:

1. Hand washing can reduce the spread of the virus. Wash your hands with soap and water frequently, and handle items contaminated by nasal secretion carefully. If you cannot wash your hands, a quick alcohol hand sanitizer can be used.

2. If necessary, wear masks and avoid going to poultry markets, seafood markets, or crowded places. If you want to get out, wearing a mask properly can reduce the risk of infection.

In addition to the above points, please pay attention to one more thing:

3. Avoid close contact with wildlife. It has been confirmed that the host of the virus is a wild animal, possibly the Chinese Rhinolophus, a type of bat.


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Author

Cathy Zhang.Cathy is the Web Master of The Weekly Cad.