Dr. John Campbell gives us basic information about the novel Coronarvirus, currently in China and currently spreading further throughtout the world.
Coronaviruses (CoV)
A large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory diseases.
A new novel virus identified from humans December 29, 2019, 2019-nCoV
Human respiratory viral infections
Cold often caused by rhinovirus
Influenza (flu) caused by influenza virus
Coronaviruses virion
CoV is a single stranded RNA
Protein envelope (protein shell or capsid)
Crown shaped virions
Less than 100 nm
Coronaviruses are zoonotic
MERS Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, 2012
SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, 2003
Novel previously unidentified in humans, 2019 – nCoV
Clinical features of the Coronavirus
Fever 98%
Cough 76%
Myalgia or fatigue 44%
Sputum production 28%
Headache 8%
Haemoptysis 5%
Diarrhoea 3%
Dyspnoea 55%
Severe acute respiratory infection – pneumonia
Acute respiratory distress syndrome
Radiology
Median duration from illness onset to dyspnoea 8·0 days
Median time from onset of symptoms to first hospital admission 7·0 days
Time from onset of symptoms to mechanical ventilation was 10·5 days
Leucopenia less than 4 × 109/L 25%
Lymphopenia less than 1·0 × 109/L 63%
Transmission
Direct from animals, vectors
Human to human
Droplet, nasal or mouth mucosa, eyes
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases – over 2 metres
Catch it – bin it – kill it
Surfaces – hands – mucous membranes
Virus contained in an envelope, so virus can stay dormant for 5 days
Fomites
Closed environments, less likely outside
Sometimes people with mild or no symptoms can be carriers
Contagious for a few (2-5-14) days of incubation period, feeling well but still contagious.
Protection
- Stay home, avoid planes, buses, trains, busy areas
- No visitors avoid close contact with symptomatic people or potential carriers
- Wear a quality medical mask
- Wrap around glasses
- Gloves and meticulous hand hygiene, don’t touch eyes, nose mouth
- Don’t trust hand sanitizers
- Avoid hospitals
Same infectiousness as SARS, lower mortality (SARS) 10% v 3%
2 to 3 people get new infection of the Coronavirus for every infected case
Treatment
Supportive
Keep warm
Hydration
Eat if hungry
No specific coronavirus antiviral drugs
Oxygen for hypoxaemia
3% mortality
No vaccine as yet
More information about Coronavirus from Dr. John Campbell on YouTube
About Dr. John Campbell
Dr. John Campbell is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing studies at the University of Cumbria. He has been a clinical nurse and a nurse tutor for over 30 years. In addition to writing books, he has also produced a range of videos and podcasts on various health and nursing related topics. As well as selling his materials in the Western countries, many are distributed at no cost, or low cost, to students in poorer countries.
