What to know about corona viruses
This article was updated as on March 23, 2020
Definition
Coronaviruses are types of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. Doctors associate them with the common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and COVID-19. They can also affect the gut.
Coronaviruses are types of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. Doctors associate them with the common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and COVID-19. They can also affect the gut.
These
viruses are typically responsible for common colds more than serious diseases.
However, corona viruses are also behind some more severe outbreaks.
Over the
last 70 years, scientists have found that corona viruses can infect mice, rats,
dogs, cats, turkeys, horses, pigs, and cattle. Sometimes,
these animals can transmit corona viruses to humans.
Most
recently, authorities identified a new corona virus outbreak in China that has
now reached other countries. It has the name corona virus disease 2019, or COVID-19.
We
thought we would explain the different types of human corona viruses, their
symptoms, and how people transmit them. We also focus on three particularly
dangerous diseases that have spread due to corona viruses: COVID-19, SARS, and MERS.
erestCovering the mouth when sneezing
may help stop the spread of coronaviruses.
Researchers first isolated a coronavirus in
1937. They found a coronavirus responsible for an infectious bronchitis virus
in birds that had the ability to devastate poultry stocks.
Scientists
first found evidence of human coronaviruses (HCoV) in the 1960s in the noses of
people with the common cold. Two human coronaviruses are responsible for a
large proportion of common colds.
The name
“coronavirus” comes from the crown-like projections on their surfaces. “Corona”
in Latin means “halo” or “crown.”
Among
humans, coronavirus infections most often occur during the winter months
and early spring. People
regularly become ill with a cold due to a coronavirus and may catch the same
one about 4 months later.
This is
because coronavirus antibodies do not last for a long time. Also, the
antibodies for one strain of coronavirus may be ineffective against another
one.
In 2019,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started
monitoring the outbreak of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which
causes the respiratory illness now known as COVID-19. Authorities first
identified the virus in Wuhan, China.
Since
then, the virus has spread to other countries, both in and outside Asia,
leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare this as a pandemic.
As of
March 23, more than 340,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide, causing
over 14,000 deaths.
In the
U.S., the virus has affected over 35,000 people, resulting in more than 450
deaths.
The first
people with COVID-19 had links to an animal and seafood market. This fact
suggested that animals initially transmitted the virus to humans. However,
people with a more recent diagnosis had no connections with or exposure to the
market, confirming that humans can pass the virus to each other.
Information
on the virus is scarce at present. In the past, respiratory conditions that
develop from coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, have spread through close
contacts.
On
February 17, 2020, the Director-General of the WHO presented at a media
briefing the following updates on how often the symptoms of COVID-19
are severe or fatal, using data from 44,000 people with a confirmed diagnosis:
Stage
of severity
|
Rough
percentage of people with COVID-19
|
Mild disease from which a person can recover
|
More than 80%
|
Severe
disease, causing breathlessness and pneumonia
|
Around
14%
|
Critical disease, including septic shock,
respiratory failure, and the failure of more than one organ
|
About 5%
|
Fatal
disease
|
2%
|
The WHO reports that the
two groups most at risk of experiencing severe illness due to a SARS-CoV-2
infection are older adults, defined as “over 60 years old”, and individuals who
have other health conditions that compromise their immune system.
According
to the CDC, children are not at
higher risk for COVID-19 than adults.
While
there are currently no published scientific reports about the susceptibility of
pregnant women, the CDC notes that:
“Pregnant women experience immunologic and physiologic changes which might make them more susceptible to viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19.”
“Pregnant women experience immunologic and physiologic changes which might make them more susceptible to viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19.”
The CDC
also recommend that
infants born to mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are placed in
isolation as a “person under investigation.”
Symptoms of COVID-19
Symptoms vary from
person-to-person with COVID-19. It may produce few or no symptoms. However, it
can also lead to severe illness and may be fatal. Common symptoms include:
- fever
- breathlessness
- cough
- potential loss of taste or smell
It may
take 2–14 days for a person to notice symptoms after infection.
No vaccine is
currently available for COVID-19. However, scientists have now replicated the
virus. This could allow for early detection and treatment in people who have
the virus but are not yet showing symptoms.
The
National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggest that several groups of people have
the highest risk of developing complications due to COVID-19. These groups
include:
- young children
- people aged 65 years or
older
- women who are pregnant
The
CDC advise that
although there have been reports of complications in young children, these are rare.
COVID-19 most commonly produces mild symptoms in children.
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