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Corona-virus Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, Types


Coronavirus

What is Coronavirus?

  • A coronavirus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses, or upper throat.
  • Most coronaviruses are not dangerous.
  • Some types of them are serious, though.
  • Coronaviruses first identified in the 1960s, but we don’t know where they come from.
  • They get their name from their crown-like shape.
  • Sometimes, but not often, a coronavirus can infect both animals and humans.
  • Most coronaviruses spread the same way other cold-causing viruses do:
    through infected people coughing and sneezing, by touching an infected person’s hands or face or by touching things such as doorknobs that infected people have touched.
  • Almost everyone gets a coronavirus infection at least once in their life, most likely as a young child.
  • About 858 people have died from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which first appeared in 2012 in Saudi Arabia.
  • After that, it appears in other countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
  • In May 2015, there was an outbreak of MERS in Korea, which was the largest outbreak outside of the Arabian Peninsula.
  • In 2003, 774 people died from a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
  • As of 2015, there were no further reports of cases of SARS.
  • MERS and SARS are types of coronaviruses.
  • But in early January 2020, the World Health Organization identified a new type: 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China.
  • By late January,  300 confirmed cases in China and a death count that was still in the single digits, but rising.

Coronavirus

Where did the Coronavirus come from?

  • Since the virus first popped up in Wuhan in people who visited a local seafood and animal market, officials could only say it likely hopped from an animal to humans.
  • In a new study, however, researchers sequenced the genes of 2019-nCoV (as the virus called)
  • Then they compared it with the genetic sequences of more than 200 coronaviruses that infect various animals around the world.
  • Their results, detailed in the Journal of Medical Virology, suggested that 2019-nCoV likely originated in snakes.
  • As for what kind of snake, the scientists noted there are two snakes that are common to southeastern China where the outbreak originated: the many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus) and the Chinese cobra (Naja atra).
  • However, some experts criticized the study, saying it’s unclear if coronaviruses can indeed infect snakes.
  • The study published in the Journal of Medical Virology, revealing the likely snake host, also found that a change to one of the viral proteins in 2019-nCoV allows the virus to recognize and bind to receptors on certain host cells.
  • This ability is a critical step to entering cells, and the researchers said that the change in this particular protein may have helped the virus hop to humans.

How does the virus compare to SARS and MERS?

  • MERS and SARS have both known to cause severe symptoms in people.
  • It’s unclear how the new coronavirus will compare in severity, as it has caused severe symptoms and death in some patients while causing only mild illness in others, according to the CDC.
  • All three of the coronaviruses transmitted between humans through close contact.
  • MERS, which transmitted from touching infected camels or consuming their meat or milk.
  • The first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and mostly contained in the Arabian Peninsula, according to NPR.
  • SARS first reported in 2002 in southern China (no new cases have been reported since 2004) and is thought to spread from bats that infected civets.
  • The new coronavirus was likely transmitted from touching or eating an infected animal in Wuhan.
  • During the SARS outbreak, the virus killed about 1 in 10 people who were infected.
  • The death rate from 2019-nCoV isn’t yet known, although most of the patients who died from the infection have been older than 60 and have had preexisting conditions.

Coronavirus

What are the symptoms of Coronavirus?

The symptoms of most coronaviruses are similar to any other upper respiratory infection, including:

  • Runny nose
  • Coughing
  • Sore throat
  • And sometimes a fever.

In most cases, you won’t know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as rhinovirus.

You could get lab tests, including nose and throat cultures and blood work, to find out whether your cold was caused by a coronavirus, but there’s no reason to. The test results wouldn’t change how you treat your symptoms.

If a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract, it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease, or people with weakened immune systems.

Coronavirus

How are Coronavirus infections diagnosed?

To make a diagnosis, health care provider will:

  • Take your medical history, including asking about your symptoms
  • Do a physical exam
  • May do blood tests
  • May do lab tests of sputum, a sample from a throat swab, or other respiratory specimens

 

Coronavirus

How are Coronavirus infections spread?

These viruses are common amongst animals worldwide, but only a handful of them are known to affect humans.

Human coronaviruses are most commonly spread between an infected person and others via:

  • The air (from viral particles from a cough or sneeze)
  • Close personal contact (touching or shaking hands);
  • An object or surface with viral particles on it (then touching your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands)
  • And rarely from fecal contamination.

In order for this virus, or any, to lead to a pandemic in humans, it needs to do three things:

  • Efficiently infect humans
  • Replicate in humans
  • And then spread easily among humans, Live Science previously reported.

Right now, the CDC is saying this virus passes between humans in a limited manner, but they are still investigating.

Coronavirus

Who is at risk for Coronavirus Infections?

  • Anyone can get a coronavirus infection, but young children are most likely to get infected.
  • Infections are more common in the fall and winter.

What are the treatments for coronavirus infections?

  • There are no specific treatments for coronavirus infections and most people will recover on their own, according to the CDC.
  • So treatment involves rest and medication to relieve symptoms.
  • A humidifier or hot shower can help to relieve a sore throat and cough.
  • There is no vaccine for the new coronavirus but researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health confirmed they were in preliminary stages of developing one.
  • In addition, the drug company Regeneron announced that it is in the early stages of developing a treatment for this virus

Can coronavirus infections be prevented?

You may be able to reduce your risk of infection by doing the following:

  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick

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
  • Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces

Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?

  • One of the abiding images of any virus outbreak is people in surgical masks.
  • Using them to prevent infection is popular in many countries around the world.
  • Virologists are sceptical about their effectiveness against airborne viruses.
  • But there is some evidence to suggest the masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions.
  • Masks had to be worn correctly, changed frequently and got rid of safely if they were to work properly.
  • Covering your mouth while sneezing, washing your hands, and not putting your hands to your mouth before washing them.
  • This could help limit the risk of catching any respiratory virus.

Coronavirus

Conclusion:

  • A newly identified coronavirus has been spreading in China and has now reached several other countries.
  • As the number of confirmed cases and deaths continue to rise, health officials are working on all fronts to learn more about the virus.

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