Coronaviruses (CoV)
A large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory diseases.
Basic information about the novel Coronarvirus, currently in China.
A new novel virus identified from humans 29th December 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
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
1. Stay home, avoid planes, buses, trains, busy areas
2. No visitors avoid close contact with symptomatic people or potential carriers
3. Wear a quality medical mask
4. Wrap around glasses
5. Gloves and meticulous hand hygiene, don’t touch eyes, nose mouth
6. Don’t trust hand sanitizers
7. Avoid hospitals
Same infectiousness as SARS, lower mortality (SARS) 10% v 3%
2 to 3 people get new infection 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
What is Coronavirus?
Video Length: 28:55 minutes
Dr. Eddy Bettermann MD 