Coronavirus and Flu Virus: What to know

What do we know?

The news about Coronavirus spreading from Asia has gotten everyone worried about getting sick! There have been thousands of cases worldwide. The flu-like illness has been bringing some countries to a halt. Let’s break down what we know about this bug.

  • This infection is caused by a virus that was initially identified in Wuhan, China. Like ALL first-time, viral outbreaks in humans, the source came from an animal reservoir. This means the virus went from only infecting certain animals, to infecting humans—by adapting its genes.

  • Once the virus was identified in humans, it spread around the population in Wuhan, then other parts of China, then to other countries—as a flu virus would spread here during winter.

  • The virus has been detected in the US —but mostly— in people who recently traveled from the high risk areas of china. The confirmed number of cases is 6. The number of pending cases is around 150. There has been 1 person-to-person transmission, meaning an infected person came back to the US from China and then got someone else they know in the US sick. (These numbers as of January 31st 2020, see CDC.gov for real-time info.)

  • What are the symptoms? Infection with this virus is similar to other flu-like illnesses. The main symptoms are

    • Fever

    • Cough

    • Shortness of breath

  • Officials are still obtaining information on

    • How likely the virus is to spread from person to person

    • How likely it is a person will develop complications or severe symptoms from it (like pneumonia, or pneumonia requiring hospitalization)

  • Like many viruses there is no specific treatment for it; meaning, you have to let it run its course. That being said, rest, fever control and proper hydration are very important. Along with watching for complications like pneumonia or dehydration. Severe cases may need support in a hospital. Anti-flu medication cannot be used for this virus.

What Should I Do?

  • Stay calm! The risk of you getting coronavirus at this time is very low unless you have recently been traveling to an endemic area. The number of cases in the US, confirmed and pending, are less than 200—moreover, people are now being regularly screened at airports for symptoms.

    • In comparison, the following are statistics about the flu ( caused by influenza virus)

      • Number of cases of flu this season (2019-2020), due to any of the types of influenza (as of Jan 25, 2020) in the US: 19 million

      • There have been 180,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths

      • Flu can lead to hospitalization and death, especially in pediatric, young adult, immunocompromised (like diabetics and those with cancer) and elderly populations.

  • So, to prevent the spread of the flu AND avoid contracting coronavirus

    • Take precautions that protect you from respiratory droplets

      • Wash your hands often with soap and water—especially after being in public places or before touching your face

      • Wear a mask if you’re sick (especially with the flu), or if you need to be in a high foot-traffic area, like an airport. Especially true for those at higher risk for illness

      • When you’re sick stay home

      • Cover your coughs and sneezes

      • And lastly, get a flu shot. Unfortunately, we cannot prevent coronavirus YET. But we CAN prevent many types of the Flu. It’s NOT too late, and you can get it EVEN if you had the flu already.

      • Staying safe from flu keeps your immune system strong in the event that you do come in contact with coronavirus!

For more up-to-date information, visit CDC.gov.

Photo Source: Taken from CDC on Upsplash.com.

The beautiful image in the title shows MERS-CoV, which is similar to the novel Coronavirus. Caption: “Produced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), this highly magnified, digitally colorized transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image highlights the particle envelope of a single, spherical shaped, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) virion, through the process of immunolabeling, the envelope proteins, using rabbit HCoV-EMC/2012 primary antibody, and goat anti-rabbit 10nm gold particles.”

Stay healthy out there!
-Dr. Malasa Kahn

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