Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that cause mild illness to severe respiratory syndromes like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
SARS Coronavirus:
SARS coronavirus was first discovered in 2003. SARS-CoV is thought to be an animal virus from perhaps bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats) and first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002.
Full Form: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Year of Occurrence: 2003
Number of countries affected: 26
Number of reported cases: 8000
Suspected mode of Transmission: Animal - to - Human Or Human - to - Human
Human to human transmission takes place due to virus excretion in respiratory secretions and stool.
Symptoms: Influenza-like and include fever, malaise, myalgia, headache, diarrhoea, and shivering (rigors).Cough (initially dry), shortness of breath, and diarrhoea are present in the first and/or second week of illness.
Geographical Distribution: The distribution is based on the 2002–2003 epidemic. The disease appeared in November 2002 in the Guangdong province of southern China. It further spread from there to many countries and areas like, Toronto in Canada, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, and Hanoi in Viet Nam.
Prophylaxis: None. Experimental vaccines are under development.
MERS Coronavirus:
Infection with MERS-CoV can cause severe disease resulting in high mortality. Humans are infected with MERS-CoV from direct or indirect contact with dromedaries. MERS-CoV has demonstrated the ability to transmit between humans.
Full Form: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
Year of Occurrence: September, 2012
Number of countries affected: 27
Number of reported cases: 2494
Number of deaths: 858 - 866
Suspected mode of transmission: Dromedary camels
Symptoms: Cough, palpitations, dizziness, chills and rigor
MERS-CoV appears to cause more severe disease in people with diabetes, renal failure, chronic lung disease, and immunocompromised persons.
Precautionary methods: General hygiene measures, such as regular hand washing before and after touching animals and avoiding contact with sick animals, should be adhered to.
Food hygiene practices should be observed. People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine or eating meat that has not been properly cooked.
Prophylaxis: None. Experimental vaccines are under development.
Covid - 19:
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans.This new virus was unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since it is a brand new stain it is called novel coronavirus.
Full form: Coronavirus Disease 2019
Year of Occurrence: December, 2019
Number of reported cases: 170,002
Number of recorded deaths: 6,524(As of 15th March, 2020)
Number of recovered people: 77,778
Symptoms: Fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually after 14 days. 14 days is the incubation period of the virus.
Who are likely to be affected: Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. The majority that is 80% recover from the ailment without special medical care.
Suspected mode of transmission: People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets spread the disease in two ways:
1. The droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
2. People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.
Prevention and precaution:
1. Thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
2. Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
3. Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.
Prophylaxis:While some western, traditional or home remedies may provide comfort and alleviate symptoms of COVID-19, there is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease.To date, there is no vaccine and no specific antiviral medicine to prevent or treat COVID-2019.
Since the number of people recovered is far greater than the number of deaths occured, there is no reason whatsoever to panic. One has to be alert and not anxious. In the times of turmoil we should learn not to lose our calm but instead help ourselves and others out of it. Together we can get through this, there is always HOPE.
All this information is from different webpages of the official website of World Health Organisation(WHO).The statistics provided are as on and before 16 March, 2020. Please seek guidance from reliable resources only, the media and other unreliable resources are spreading too much panic.
Be safe, be alert. But not Anxious.
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