What is coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are an extremely common cause of colds and other upper respiratory infections.
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19, short for "coronavirus disease 2019," is the official name given by the World Health Organization to the disease caused by this newly identified coronavirus.
How many people have COVID-19?
The numbers are changing rapidly.
The most up-to-date information is available from the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Johns Hopkins University.
It has spread so rapidly and to so many countries that the World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic (a term indicating that it has affected a large population, region, country, or continent).
The flu kills more people than COVID-19, at least so far. Why are we so worried about COVID-19? Shouldn't we be more focused on preventing deaths from the flu?
You're right to be concerned about the flu. Fortunately, the same measures that help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus — frequent and thorough handwashing, not touching your face, coughing and sneezing into a tissue or your elbow, avoiding people who are sick, and staying away from people if you're sick — also help to protect against spread of the flu.
If you do get sick with the flu, your doctor can prescribe an antiviral drug that can reduce the severity of your illness and shorten its duration. There are currently no antiviral drugs available to treat COVID-19.
Should I get a flu shot?
While the flu shot won't protect you from developing COVID-19, it's still a good idea. Most people older than six months can and should get the flu vaccine. Doing so reduces the chances of getting seasonal flu. Even if the vaccine doesn't prevent you from getting the flu, it can decrease the chance of severe symptoms. But again, the flu vaccine will not protect you against this coronavirus.
Why is it so difficult to develop treatments for viral illnesses?
An antiviral drug must be able to target the specific part of a virus's life cycle that is necessary for it to reproduce. In addition, an antiviral drug must be able to kill a virus without killing the human cell it occupies. And viruses are highly adaptive. Because they reproduce so rapidly, they have plenty of opportunity to mutate (change their genetic information) with each new generation, developing resistance to whatever drugs or vaccines we develop.
COVID-19 basics:
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
Some people infected with the virus have no symptoms. When the virus does cause symptoms, common ones include low-grade fever, body aches, coughing, nasal congestion, runny nose, and sore throat. However, COVID-19 can occasionally cause more severe symptoms like high fever, severe cough, and shortness of breath, which often indicates pneumonia.
One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is shortness of breath. What does that mean?
Shortness of breath refers to unexpectedly feeling out of breath, or winded. But when should you worry about shortness of breath? There are many examples of temporary shortness of breath that are not worrisome. For example, if you feel very anxious, it's common to get short of breath and then it goes away when you calm down.
However, if you find that you are ever breathing harder or having trouble getting air each time you exert yourself, you always need to call your doctor. That was true before we had the recent outbreak of COVID-19, and it will still be true after it is over.
Meanwhile, it's important to remember that if shortness of breath is your only symptom, without a cough or fever, something other than COVID-19 is the likely problem.
How long is it between when a person is exposed to the virus and when they start showing symptoms?
Because this coronavirus has just been discovered, the time from exposure to symptom onset (known as the incubation period) for most people has yet to be determined. Based on current information, symptoms could appear as soon as three days after exposure to as long as 13 days later. Recently published research found that on average, the incubation period is about five days.
How does coronavirus spread?
The coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person to person. This can happen between people who are in close contact with one another. Droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes may land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be inhaled into their lungs.
Coronavirus can also spread from contact with infected surfaces or objects. For example, a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.
How deadly is COVID-19?
The answer depends on whether you're looking at the fatality rate (the risk of death among those who are infected) or the total number of deaths. So far, influenza has caused far more deaths this flu season, both in the US and worldwide, than COVID-19. This is why you may have heard it said that the flu is a bigger threat.
Regarding the fatality rate, it appears that the risk of death with the pandemic coronavirus infection (commonly estimated at 3% to 4%) is less than it was for SARS (approximately 11%) and MERS (about 35%), but may be higher than the risk from seasonal flu (which averages about 0.1%).
What we do know so far is the risk of death very much depends on your age and your overall health. Children appear to be at very low risk of severe disease and death. Older adults and those with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, or lung disease have a higher chance of developing complications like pneumonia, which could be deadly.
Who is at highest risk for getting very sick from COVID-19?
Older people, especially those with underlying medical problems like chronic bronchitis, emphysema, heart failure, or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness.
In addition, several underlying medical conditions may increase the risk of serious COVID-19 for individuals of any age. These include:
- blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease, or taking blood thinners
- chronic kidney disease
- chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis
- any condition or treatment that weakens the immune response (cancer, cancer treatment, organ or bone marrow transplant, immunosuppressant medications, HIV or AIDS)
- current or recent pregnancy in the last two weeks
- diabetes
- inherited metabolic disorders and mitochondrial disorders
- heart disease, including coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, and heart failure
- lung disease, including asthma, COPD (chronic bronchitis or emphysema)
- neurological and neurologic and neurodevelopment conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders), stroke, intellectual disability, moderate to severe developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury.
Are kids immune to the virus that causes COVID-19?
Children, including very young children, can develop COVID-19. However, children tend to experience milder symptoms such as fever, runny nose, and cough. Some children have had severe complications, but this has been less common. Children with underlying health conditions may be at increased risk for severe illness.
Will warm weather stop the outbreak of COVID-19?
Some viruses, like the common cold and flu, spread more when the weather is colder. But it is still possible to become sick with these viruses during warmer months. At this time, we do not know whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease when the weather warms up.
Should I accept packages from China?
There is no reason to suspect that packages from China harbor coronavirus. Remember, this is a respiratory virus similar to the flu. We don't stop receiving packages from China during their flu season. We should follow that same logic for the virus that causes COVID-19.
Can I catch the coronavirus by eating food handled or prepared by others?
We are still learning about transmission of the new coronavirus. It's not clear if it can be spread by an infected person through food they have handled or prepared, but if so it would more likely be the exception than the rule.
That said, the new coronavirus is a respiratory virus known to spread by upper respiratory secretions, including airborne droplets after coughing or sneezing. The virus that causes COVID-19 has also been detected in the stool of certain people. So we currently cannot rule out the possibility of the infection being transmitted through food by an infected person who has not thoroughly washed their hands. In the case of hot food, the virus would likely be killed by cooking. This may not be the case with uncooked foods like salads or sandwiches.
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