China's coronavirus: how it is transmitted and how to avoid getting itWHO has declared an international health emergency as the virus takes the lives of more than 250 people and more than 11,000 cases are reported.
The coronavirus, a virus never before seen and detected in the city of Wuhan, in central China, has claimed the lives of more than 250 people and infected more than 11,000 Chinese citizens, according to the National Health Commission of that country.
The virus, known as 2019-nCoV, was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019 and has been under investigation since then. Chinese scientists have linked the disease to a family of viruses known as "coronaviruses," from the same family of deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) viruses.
On January 30, the World Health Organization declared an international alert to the outbreak of coronavirus.
That same day, on January 30, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first case of transmission of the virus from person to person in the United States. And on January 31, the United States declared a public health emergency before the outbreak of coronavirus, which prohibits entry into the United States. to foreigners who have been in China in the last two weeks and who do not have family members or permanent residents.
On Friday, January 24, the French authorities confirmed three cases in France and Australia reported four cases within its borders. On Sunday, January 26, the United States Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) announced a fifth case in the country. There are currently 110 cases under investigation in more than 20 cities in the United States, according to the CDC.
Scientists still do not fully understand how harmful the new virus, called 2019-nCoV, could be. Researchers have just begun to understand where it originated, how it is transmitted, how far it has spread and what symptoms the patients have.
As of January 31, the number of cases had skyrocketed to more than 11,000 in China and other countries. The Chinese authorities also confirmed that health personnel have been infected with the virus, suggesting that they have already achieved transmission from person to person. As a result, the authorities are taking measures to prevent its spread and the WHO has convened an Emergency Committee on January 22 to analyze whether the virus constitutes a public health emergency. Investigators believe that the number of cases may be greater than that suggested by current reports, and three airports in the United States have begun to examine passengers entering the country for symptoms of the disease, as well as other airports. with high passenger traffic in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia.
On Saturday, January 25, Hong Kong declared a state of emergency for the entire city, and canceled all the Chinese New Year celebrations and extended the school break until February 17. China also said it will limit the travel of some of its citizens abroad, to suspend group tours and the sale of flight and hotel packages.
For its part, the US Department of State announced that it has hired a flight to evacuate US citizens from the town of Wuhan on Tuesday, January 28. These people will come to San Francisco, where they will be examined immediately after landing.
Below, we present everything we know about this mysterious virus and the steps you can take to reduce the risk of being infected.
What is a coronavirus?Coronaviruses belong to a family of viruses known as Coronaviridae and look like a kind of barbed rings when you see them with the lens of an electron microscope. They are called that because of those spikes or spikes, which form a halo or crown around their viral envelope.
Coronaviruses contain a chain of RNA (ribonucleic acid) inside their envelope and the only way they have to reproduce is to enter living cells and appropriate the machinery inside. The peaks of their viral envelope allow them to bind to cells, which gives them an access point. Once inside, they turn the cell into a virus factory, using its molecular conveyor belt to produce more viruses and send them abroad. The new viruses infect another cell, and the cycle begins again.
Typically, these types of viruses are found in animals ranging from livestock to domestic pets and wild animals such as bats. When humans jump, they can cause fever, respiratory diseases and inflammation in the lungs. In immunocompromised people, such as the elderly or people with HIV-AIDS, they can cause serious respiratory diseases.
The causative agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) were extremely pathogenic coronaviruses, and it was discovered that they could be transmitted easily among humans. SARS infected more than 8,000 people and produced almost 800 deaths. The MERS had almost 2,500 infected and caused more than 850 deaths.
Where did the virus come from?The virus appears to have originated in the wholesale seafood market Huanan in Wuhan, a Chinese city with more than 11 million people located about 650 miles (1050 km) south of Beijing. The market sells fish, as well as a variety of other animal meats. However, it is still unknown whether or not it arose from an animal species such as the previous coronaviruses (SARS and MERS).
Markets have been related to the origin and spread of viral diseases in past epidemics and a large majority of the cases confirmed so far are people who had come to the Huanan market in recent weeks. The market seems to be a key piece of the puzzle, but researchers must still perform a whole series of experiments and tests to confirm the origin of the virus.
"Animal testing in the Wuhan area, including samples from the markets, will provide us with more information," said Raina MacIntyre, head of the biosecurity research program at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales.
How is coronavirus transmitted?This is one of the main questions that researchers are working to answer. It is not clear which animals can act as a reservoir for the virus and what role do live animal markets have in their spread. There have been no reports of health officials or employees who have contracted the disease, which seems to suggest that the transmission from person to person is limited, but this issue is still being investigated.
The market, which is believed to be the epicenter of the spread, was closed on January 1. The World Health Organization has suggested that at this stage the possibility of transmission from person to person cannot be excluded, which could cause some concern in the authorities that seek to slow the spread of the disease.
On January 20, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota reported that health personnel in China had been infected with the virus. This was a notable turning point in the previous SARS epidemic, as health personnel who traveled from one country to another helped spread the disease. The center also confirmed that person-to-person transmission is likely, which could hinder efforts to contain the virus in the coming weeks.
How many cases have been reported?As of January 28, more than 4,500 cases have been reported. The majority are in China, but new cases have been confirmed in Thailand and on January 28, the first case detected in Germany was reported. In the United States, meanwhile, five cases have been confirmed.
The Chinese national authorities continue to monitor more than 1,300 residents who attended the Wuhan market or who have had prolonged contact with those who have symptoms of the new disease.
You can monitor the progress of the coronavirus with this interactive map, which is gathering data from various sources such as the CDC, WHO and health experts in China. (Note: There may be differences between our reports and the data provided by this tool).
How many deaths have been reported?There have been more than 250 deaths in China. The first was that of a 61-year-old man who frequented the Wuhan market and had chronic liver disease and abdominal tumors. The second was the case of a 69-year-old man who presented at the hospital with severe damage to several organs. There have been no deaths outside of China.
How do we know that it is a new coronavirus?The short answer is: science.
The China Center for Disease Control and Prevention sent a team of scientists to Wuhan to gather information about the new disease and test patients in order to isolate the virus. His work, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on January 24, analyzed samples from three patients. With the use of an electron microscope, which is able to see in nanometers, and the study of the genetic code, the team was able to visualize and genetically identify the new virus for the first time.
Understanding the genetic code of the virus helps researchers in two ways: it allows them to create tests that can identify the virus from patient samples and gives them knowledge to create treatments and vaccines.
What is being done to combat the spread?The world is reacting to control the spread of the new coronavirus, from quarantines to travel restrictions. Also, the coronavirus outbreak has affected events and industries. Below we detail it.
China has quarantined millions of people: The Chinese government quarantined the entire city of Wuhan, with a population of 11 million people, which was where the virus originated. China also restricted travel in nearby cities to Wuhan.
Closures in Hong Kong: The Hong Kong government decided to close cultural and recreational facilities in an effort to combat the spread of the virus. Facilities include sports centers, beaches, camps, libraries, museums and performing arts centers.
Travel restrictions and flight suspensions: The United States is considering installing flight restrictions to and from China, according to a CNBC report. For their part, airlines have extended their offer of free changes to flights to China.
The CDC warned that "non-essential" trips to China be avoided, and the State Department alerted passengers to reconsider their trips to China.
British Airways and Lufthansa have suspended all flights to China. The same has been done by United Airlines and American Airlines.
Quick construction of a hospital: The Chinese government has embarked on an ambitious project to build a hospital with 1,000 beds in Wuhan in less than two weeks. The hospital is expected to be ready by the beginning of February.
On the other hand, 3M will increase its production of masks worldwide to meet the growing demand, according to CNBC. Johnson & Johnson, on the other hand, said he has begun work to "develop a preventive coronavirus vaccine with the potential to protect people from the disease."
Closures of parks, restaurants and cinemas: Disneyland in Shanghai and Hong Kong closed its doors temporarily. The McDonald's restaurant chain temporarily closed some of its establishments in affected areas in China. The film industry in China has chosen to close cinemas and postpone the premiere of films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 70,000 cinemas have closed their doors temporarily.
Qualification tournament for the Olympics: Wuhan was to host a women's soccer qualification tournament for the Olympics. But the tournament has moved to Australia.
Huawei postpones conference: The phone manufacturer has postponed its conference for HDC.Cloud developers for March.
Mobile World Congress will strengthen surveillance: The MWC technology fair that takes place between February 24 and 27 will strengthen medical care. The entity that organizes the fair has asked the exhibitors and attendees to follow the guidelines and protocols suggested by the World Health Organization.
Coronavirus would affect Apple production: According to a Bloomberg report, the spread of coronavirus could affect Chinese manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron, two of Apple's most important partners. In addition, Apple temporarily closed three of its stores in China.
Google temporarily closes its offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Nintendo Switch: According to a Reuters report on January 30, Nintendo's chief executive, Shuntaro Furukawa, said that the production of the Switch in China "was experiencing some impact of the coronavirus." Then, the company confirmed on the occasion of its report of financial results that it was not going to launch a new model of the Switch in 2020.
WHO declares international health emergency
On January 30, the World Health Organization declared an international alert to the outbreak of coronavirus.
By declaring the outbreak as a public health emergency of international scope, WHO would "have greater power to control the disease through the International Health Regulations," MacIntyre said.
How infectious is the coronavirus?
Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, suggests in a tweet that the coronavirus is at the level of a "thermonuclear pandemic," based on a metric known as R0. This metric helps determine the basic reproduction number of an infectious disease. The value is associated with how many people can be infected by a person who carries the virus.
Infectious diseases such as measles have an R0 from 12 to 18, which is quite bad. The SARS epidemic of 2002-2003 had an R0 of 3. Several studies of the 2019-nCoV outbreak have given it a similar value with a range of 1.4 to 3.8. However, there is a great variation between studies and models that attempt to predict the R0 value of a new coronavirus due to the changing number of confirmed cases.
We must emphasize that these studies are informative and not definitive, especially at the early stage of the outbreak and its spread. The studies give us an indication of the potential of the disease to go from person to person, but we still don't have enough information on how the virus spreads.
"Some experts are saying that this is the most infectious virus we have seen. That is not correct," MacIntyre said. "If it were highly infectious (more infectious than influenza as some have suggested), we should have seen hundreds if not thousands of cases outside of China right now, considering that Wuhan is a great travel center."
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
This new coronavirus has similar symptoms to those of the coronaviruses that cause previously identified diseases. In the patients currently diagnosed there seems to be a whole spectrum of the disease: a large number of them experience mild symptoms similar to those of pneumonia, while others have a much more serious response.
On January 24, the prestigious medical journal The Lancet published an extensive analysis of the clinical features of the disease.
According to the report, patients have the following symptoms:
- Fever, high body temperature
- Dry cough
- Fatigue or muscle pain
- Respiratory distress
These are the less common symptoms caused by the new:
- Cough with mucus or blood
- Headache
- Diarrhea
As the disease progresses, patients also suffer from pneumonia, which inflames the lungs and causes them to fill with fluid. This can be detected through X-rays and was present in 41 of the cases analyzed.
Is there a treatment for coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are remarkably resistant organisms. They are effective in hiding from the human immune system and no reliable vaccine treatment has been developed that can eradicate them. In most cases, health officials are responsible for treating symptoms.
"There is no recognizable treatment against coronaviruses," said Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergency Program, during a press conference. "The main objective during an outbreak of coronavirus-related disease is to provide adequate support for patient care, especially when it comes to respiratory and multi-organ support."
However, that does not mean that it is impossible to have a vaccine. Chinese scientists managed to sequence the genetic code of the virus with incredible speed, which gives them the opportunity to study it and find ways to combat this new disease. According to CNN, researchers at the National Institute of Health (NIH) are already working on a vaccine, although it could be a year or more before it becomes available.
SARS, which infected about 8,000 people and claimed the lives of 800, seems to have taken its course and then disappeared. However, it was not a vaccine that changed the course of things but the effective communication between countries and a wide range of tools that helped monitor the disease and its spread.
"We have learned that epidemics can be controlled without medications or vaccines, with the use of better surveillance, case isolation, contact monitoring and infection control measures," MacIntyre said.
How to reduce your risk and prevent the spread of coronavirus
With confirmed cases in the United States, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Australia, it is quite possible that the virus will spread further. WHO has recommended several measures to protect against contracting the disease, which have to do with good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene, that is, almost the same advice you would follow to reduce your risk of getting the flu.
Below you can see a Twitter thread about the coronavirus, published by the WHO.
Tom Moorcroft, a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases, says that the precautions to be taken are basic. Coronavirus spreads through respiratory vapor, for example, when someone sneezes or coughs around you. Influenza and common cold viruses also spread this way.
"The things you should do to protect yourself from the coronavirus are things you should do every day," says Moorcroft. "The main thing you should do to prevent any respiratory illness is to practice good personal hygiene."
Moorcroft reiterates the recommendations of the CDC to avoid coronavirus (and other respiratory diseases):
Wash your hands with soap or use an anti-germ lotion that contains alcohol.
If you sneeze or cough, use tissues or napkins, or cover your mouth and nose with your arm. If your skin is smeared with mucus or saliva, clean it immediately. Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick, especially those who exhibit respiratory symptoms and fever.
If you are sick, stay home.
Clean all surfaces, such as tables, counters and door knobs, regularly and thoroughly with disinfectant.
Dr. Moorcroft believes that extra protections, such as the use of masks, are not necessary at this time for people in the United States.
In addition to the basic prevention measures, Moorcroft says that the best defense against the disease is a strong immune system. Your body is better able to fight the disease when your immune system is in optimal condition, explains Moorcroft. For your immune system to be strong, Moorcroft recommends that you have a good quality of sleep, are hydrated, minimize the consumption of too much processed foods and include enough micronutrients in your diet.
How can I protect myself from coronavirus while traveling
The CDC has recommended that everyone avoid non-essential trips to China, and Chinese officials have shut down all trips to and from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province.
If you must travel to China, the CDC recommends that you talk to your doctor first, avoid being near people who are sick and avoid being near animals and animals in the markets
