All about COVID-19

    '' Every Thing You Need To Know About                             CORONAVIRUS''

   

• what is coronavirus?                                   
• symptom,treatment,risk, prevention.                                       
• latest updates about coronavirus in china.                                                              *  Xi Jinping, China’s leader, says the nation will ‘beat the epidemic'              *   U.S. orders the evacuation of American consulate employees.
• Australia's Been Asked to Make a Coronavirus Vaccine.
•   Do Masks Help?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

What is CORONAVIRUS;

             The name "coronavirus" is derived from the Latin corona and the Greek (korṓnē, "garland, wreath"), meaning crown or halo. This refers to the characteristic appearance of virions (the infective form of the virus) by electron microscopy.                                                                 

• Subfamily :   Orthocoronavirinae   
• family       :   Coronaviridae                  
• Order       :   Nidovirales
• Type         :   Enveloped virus positive-sense single stranded RNA                   genome and with a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry.                                                           

Human virus:

There are seven known strains of human coronaviruses:

1. Human coronavirus 229E 
2. Human coronavirus OC43 
3. SARS-CoV
4. Human coronavirus NL63 
5. Human coronavirus HKU1
6. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus 
7. Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV

HISTORY:

Coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s; the earliest  discovered were
    1- infectious bronchitis virus in chickens 
    2-two viruses from the nasal cavities of human patients with the common cold .                           (named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43. 
   Other  includes;
       * SARS-CoV in 2003
     *HCoV NL63 in 2004 
      *HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012 
      * 2019-nCoV in 2019; most of these have been involved in serious respiratory tract         infections.

n 31 December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus, officially designated as 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization, was reported in Wuhan, China.

Symptoms:

Common human coronaviruses

Common human coronaviruses, including types 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold. Most people get infected with these viruses at some point in their lives. These illnesses usually only last for a short amount of time. Symptoms may include

• runny nose
• headache
• cough
• sore throat
• fever
• a general feeling of being unwell

Human coronaviruses can sometimes cause lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. This is more common in people with cardiopulmonary disease, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.

TREATMENT:

Dr. Vaishampayan said;

  ''No drugs are approved for the Wuhan coronavirus. The main treatment is supportive care, including making sure the patient is getting enough oxygen, and using a ventilator to push air into the lungs if necessary.''

• Patients should rest and drink plenty of fluids “while the immune system does its jobs and heals itself,” she said.
• No drugs have been approved for any coronavirus diseases, though an antiviral medication called remdesivir appears to be effective in animals.

    Medications for coronavirus                           pneumonia;

1.        Protease inhibitors (eg, lopinavir/ritonavir) demonstrated antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection. 
2.         Interferon alfa and interferon beta have activity against SARS-CoV in vitro and in animal models. Limited human data seemed to demonstrate some beneficial effect. 

      Ribavirin is not active against SARS-CoV in vitro, and studies have not shown clinical efficacy. Therefore, this medication is not recommended for this infection.                                                                                                          

Prevention:

• wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water or with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Keep your hands and fingers away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Avoid close contact with people who are infected.

You treat a coronavirus infection the same way you treat a cold:

• Get plenty of rest.
• Drink fluids.
• Take over-the-counter medicine for a sore throat  and fever above 20 years.

      

RECENT OUTBREAK OF CORONAVIRUS;

    Numbers of deaths = 41

    Infected people     = over the 1,300

        CDC is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (termed “2019-nCoV”) that was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and which continues to expand. Chinese health officials have reported hundreds of infections with 2019-nCoV in China, including outside of Hubei Province. Infections with 2019-nCoV also are being reported in a growing number of countries internationally, including the United States, where the first and second 2019-nCoV infections were reported on January 21 and January 24, 2020, respectively, both in travelers returning from Wuhan.

 Xi Jinping, China’s leader, says the nation will ‘beat the epidemic.’

Mr. Xi said,

“We’re sure to be able to win in this battle to beat the epidemic through prevention and control,”  according to an official summary delivered on Chinese television.

U.S. orders the evacuation of American consulate employees.

        The State Department has ordered all American employees at the United States Consulate in Wuhan to leave the city, as a lockdown imposed on central China expanded, the United States Embassy said on Saturday.

      Medical staff would be aboard the plane to screen passengers, and evacuees who were not American diplomatic officers would be responsible for the cost of the flight, according to the person briefed on the plan.

     The French Consulate in Wuhan also told its citizens on Friday that it was considering setting up bus rides for those who wished to leave the city, in cooperation with the Chinese authorities, according to France’s Foreign Ministry.

Hong Kong declares a state of emergency and shuts schools.

     On Saturday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, declared a health emergency in the semi autonomous Chinese city and said schools would be closed until mid-February.

The city is treating five coronavirus patients connected to Wuhan, and more than 100 others are suspected of having the viral pneumonia.

     Hong Kong is also suspending flights and train services to Wuhan and will cancel all Lunar New Year celebrations. The Hong Kong Marathon, originally scheduled for early February, has also been called off.

Australia's Been Asked to Make a Coronavirus Vaccine at 'Unprecedented Speed'

         In a statement, the university announced it had received a request to develop a vaccine from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which describes itself as "an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations" which seeks to develop vaccines to protect the world against outbreaks.

DO masks help?

      There's a run on masks in China, with the belief that wearing one in public will protect an individual from exposure to droplets sneezed or coughed out by someone infected with the Wuhan virus.

     But there's little evidence to suggest that the face masks worn by members of the public prevent people from being infected by breathing in the virus, says William Schaffner, a professor in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "There really are no good, solid, reliable data."

     According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the kind of flimsy masks that people often buy in pharmacies may not tightly fit the face, so the wearer can still breathe in air — and infected droplets.