The Coronavirus Is Expanding! What Is It And How To Avoid It?

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Although the World Health Organization assured today that the coronavirus outbreak does not represent an international emergency, the reality is that the disease is beginning to spread throughout the world from China, with cases already in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and United States. Europe begins to prepare to face it, while all countries try to coordinate so that the SARS outbreak that killed around eight hundred people in 2002 is not repeated.

We spoke with Dr. Suzanne Donovan, head of the UCLA Department of Infectious Diseases to find out how this disease is spread: “Coronavirus is transmitted just like the flu: when you cough or sneeze, when you are in contact with an already infected person and if you put your hands to your eyes or mouth after touching things contaminated with the virus, he says.

“Coronaviruses belong to a family of viruses that are normally the cause of respiratory diseases; other coronaviruses associated with animal origin, such as SARS and MERS, caused outbreaks previously and numerous deaths, says Dr. Donovan.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said in a statement that most of the cases detected in this new outbreak that started just a few weeks ago, arose as a result of patients visiting the Wuhan Wholesale Seafood Market. Huanam.

What are the symptoms of people with this dangerous virus? "The most common are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In the most serious cases, especially in the elderly, it can end in pneumonia and even death. " But the doctor reminds us that at the moment the patients outside of China are very few and that the greatest risk that we really face now, in general, is the flu.

His advice for the dreaded coronavirus to pass us by are: cover our mouths when coughing and sneezing; stay home when we are sick; avoid contact with patients with flu symptoms; and as always, the most important thing: wash our hands often with soap and always before touching our faces.