Coronavirus: 2019-nCoV
Coronaviruses also known as CoV is a part of a large family of viruses that cause illness like the common cold to other severe diseases like the MERS-CoV or the SARS-CoV.
A novel coronavirus is known as a virus that has never earlier been identified in humans before. These are also zoonotic in nature, which means, that it is transmitted between animals and people. Now, before discussing the current coronavirus breakdown in China, lets take a recap at what was SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.
SARS-CoV was a coronavirus that earlier occurred in 2003. This coronavirus was transmitted to humans by civet cats in Guangdong, China.
MERS-CoV was a viral respiratory disease which took a turn in Saudi Arabia back in 2012. This coronavirus was transmitted from dromedary camels to humans.
Let’s have a look at what is the Coronavirus.
Coronaviruses are a type of virus that affect a mammal’s respiratory tract and causes symptoms like the common cold, pneumonia, and could also affect the gut. The human coronaviruses were first identified back in 1960s. Apart from humans, a coronavirus can also affect rats, cats, turkeys, horses, dogs, cattle, and pigs. But now we hear news about another Coronavirus breakdown in China. This is being called as ‘2019-nCov’. But how did this prevail in humans?
Symptoms and Protection from the deadly 2019-nCoV coronavirus.
Symptoms of the 2019-nCoV:
Breathlessness
Fever
Cough
Cold
Sneezing
Runny Nose
Fatigue
Cough
Exacerbated Asthma
Sore throat
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you can either let your health provider know or reach out to our experts at the Lifeline Laboratory Pathology Services to get yourself tested thoroughly.
Precautions for the 2019-nCoV:
Frequently wash your hands: You must use an alcohol-based hand rub or a soap to wash your hands frequently. This helps in killing virus if it gets on your hands.
Respiratory Hygiene: You must be aware of the right coughing and sneezing etiquettes. Use a tissue or your flexed elbow to cover your mouth or nose while you cough or sneeze in public. This can prevent the spreading of the virus.
Distance: While you might be an event or any social gathering, make sure that you maintain a 1 meter distance between other people and yourself. This can prevent the virus from flowing from one person to another.
Avoid touching your face, nose, and mouth: Our hands are what help us accomplish a lot of work but at the same time it also gets in contact with a lot of objects. Now, that clearly means that touching your hands to your face, your nose, or your mouth will transfer all bacteria from the hand to your face, nose, or mouth. This is why, you must avoid rubbing your eyes or touching your face.
Points for you to remember:
In case you are suffering from cough, fever, or are finding it hard to breathe, seek for medical help without any delay. Inform your healthcare provider all details about the symptoms, your travel history along with your diet for the past few days.
In case you are having minor symptoms and did not travel to China, you must be precautious with your respiratory hygiene and must stay home until you recover.
Avoid the consumption of any type of raw or undercooked animal products.
Do not get in contact with any stray cats, dogs, birds, etc.
Fast Fact: Coronaviruses cannot be cultivated in laboratories which further make it even difficult to gauge its impact on economies and public health. To know more, contact our experts at the Lifeline Laboratory, a diagnostic centre in Delhi.
What is that the Indian government has done so far to protect us from the 2019-nCoV?
The Health Ministry of India set up heating scans at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin to detect passengers visiting to India from China. Along with this, they have also put out information on various communication channels to make people aware of the disease and tell them how to prevent it from spreading.
How did the recent outbreak of Coronavirus in China occur in the first place?
According to several researches, it is being said that the reservoir for the 2019-nCoV might be snakes. But they haven’t confirmed any news yet. It is believed that the virus occurred in a market for illegal wildlife in Wuhan, China. The virus has taken a lot of lives and has also infected a huge amount of people in China till now.
For more queries about the Coronavirus, you can speak with our experts at the Lifeline Laboratory, the best diagnostic centre in Delhi NCR. You can also raise your queries regarding any other health issues and find a solution for your health related problems.
What makes the 2019-nCoV Coronavirus so deadly?
Although there are no confirmed reasons to define why the 2019-nCoV coronavirus has been killing humans, but according to information provided by researchers, scientists and other reports, the coronavirus is acting more like a seasonal flu.
This virus, just like the seasonal flu cannot tolerate extreme heat or humidity and prefers cool and dry conditions. This is why the coronavirus spread around in the winter season on such a high pace. Research also suggest that the containment efforts made to control coronavirus along with the prevailing summer season might help to bring down the virus to zero.
But, here is the catch. Just like the flu the virus is zero now but that doesn’t mean that its gone.