What is coronavirus? Know more about coronavirus
- “Viruses are named based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines.”
- According to the WHO, “there are different procedures, and purposes, for naming viruses and diseases.
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This particular virus was named “severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2” – or SARS-CoV-2.
- Viruses are named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
- Runny nose
- A general feeling of being unwell
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Fever
- Cough
- Touching hands of a person that has the virus can pass the virus from one person to another
- Corona viruses are highly contagious. Coughing and sneezing without covering the mouth can spread the virus
- A corona virus may spread through contact with face.
- Making contact with an object that has the virus and then touching your nose, eyes, or mouth can infect a person
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unclean hands
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick
- Avoid public gatherings
- Cause
Coronavirus coronavirus (Coronavirus-CoV) – virus identified in 2019. Coronavirus-CoV is thought to be an animal virus from an as-yet-uncertain animal reservoir, perhaps bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats) and first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2019.
- Transmission
An epidemic of Coronavirus affected 100+ countries and resulted in more than 0.5M cases in worldwide. Since then, a small number of cases have occurred as a result of laboratory accidents or, possibly, through animal-to-human transmission (Guangdong, China).
Transmission of Coronavirus-CoV is primarily from person to person. It appears to have occurred mainly during the second week of illness, which corresponds to the peak of virus excretion in respiratory secretions and stool, and when cases with severe disease start to deteriorate clinically. Most cases of human-to-human transmission occurred in the health care setting, in the absence of adequate infection control precautions. Implementation of appropriate infection control practices brought the global outbreak to an end.
- Nature of the disease
Symptoms are influenza-like and include fever, malaise, myalgia, headache, diarrhoea, and shivering (rigors). No individual symptom or cluster of symptoms has proved to be specific for a diagnosis of Coronavirus. Although fever is the most frequently reported symptom, it is sometimes absent on initial measurement, especially in elderly and immunosuppressed patients.
Cough (initially dry), shortness of breath, and diarrhoea are present in the first and/or second week of illness. Severe cases often evolve rapidly, progressing to respiratory distress and requiring intensive care.
- Geographical distribution
The distribution is based on the 2019-2020 epidemic. The disease appeared in November 2019 in the Guangdong province of southern China. This area is considered as a potential zone of re-emergence of Coronavirus-CoV.
Other countries/areas in which chains of human-to-human transmission occurred after early importation of cases were Toronto in Canada, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, and Hanoi in Viet Nam.
- Risk for travellers
Currently, no areas of the world are reporting transmission of Coronavirus. Since the end of the global epidemic in 2020, Coronavirus has reappeared four times – three times from laboratory accidents (Singapore and Chinese Taipei), and once in southern China where the source of infection remains undetermined although there is circumstantial evidence of animal-to-human transmission.
Should Coronavirus re-emerge in epidemic form, WHO will provide guidance on the risk of travel to affected areas. Travellers should stay informed about current travel recommendations. However, even during the height of the2020 epidemic, the overall risk of Coronavirus-CoV transmission to travellers was low.
- Prophylaxis
None. Experimental vaccines are under development.
- Precautions
Follow any travel recommendations and health advice issued by WHO.
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