In early 2020, a new virus began generating headlines all over the world because of the unprecedented speed of its transmission.
Its origins have been traced to a food market in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. From there, it’s reached countries as distant as the United States and the Philippines.
The virus (officially named SARS-CoV-2) has been responsible for millions of infections globally, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. The United States is the country most affected.
The disease caused by an infection with SARS-CoV-2 is called COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.
In spite of the global panic in the news about this virus, you’re unlikely to contract SARS-CoV-2 unless you’ve been in contact with someone who has a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Let’s bust some myths.
COVID-19 versus the flu
We’re still learning about whether the 2019 coronavirus is more or less deadly than the seasonal flu.
This is difficult to determine because the number of total cases, including mild cases in people who don’t seek treatment or get tested, is unknown.
However, early evidence suggests that this coronavirus causes more deaths than the seasonal flu.
An estimated 0.04 to 0.2 percentTrusted Source of people who developed the flu during the 2019–2020 flu season in the United States died as of April 4, 2020.
This is compared to about 6 percent of those with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, according to the CDCTrusted Source.
Here are some common symptoms of the flu:
- cough
- runny or stuffy nose
- sneezing
- sore throat
- fever
- headache
- fatigue
- chills
- body aches
What causes coronaviruses?
Coronaviruses are zoonotic. This means they first develop in animals before being transmitted to humans.
For the virus to be transmitted from animals to humans, a person has to come into close contact with an animal that carries the infection.
Once the virus develops in people, coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets. This is a technical name for the wet stuff that moves through the air when you cough, sneeze, or talk.
The viral material hangs out in these droplets and can be breathed into the respiratory tract (your windpipe and lungs), where the virus can then lead to an infection.
It’s possible that you could acquire SARS-CoV-2 if you touch your mouth, nose, or eyes after touching a surface or object that has the virus on it. However, this is not thought to be the main way that the virus spreads
The 2019 coronavirus hasn’t been definitively linked to a specific animal.
Researchers believe that the virus may have been passed from bats to another animal — either snakes or pangolins — and then transmitted to humans.
This transmission likely occurred in the open food market in Wuhan, China.
What treatments are available?
There’s currently no treatment specifically approved for COVID-19, and no cure for an infection, although treatments and vaccines are currently under study.
Instead, treatment focuses on managing symptoms as the virus runs its course.
Seek medical help if you think you have COVID-19. Your doctor will recommend treatment for any symptoms or complications that develop and let you know if you need to seek emergency treatment.
Other coronaviruses like SARS and MERS are also treated by managing symptoms. In some cases, experimental treatments have been tested to see how effective they are.
Examples of therapies used for these illnesses include:
- antiviral or retroviral medications
- breathing support, such as mechanical ventilation
- steroids to reduce lung swelling
- blood plasma transfusions
Credits
This article is published in https://www.healthline.com. I am use this just for my project.