Corona Virus: Symptoms and Prevention
Corona Virus: Symptoms and Prevention
What is virus
Virus is a micro organism, also called microbe, which can’t be seen through naked eyes. It can be seen under microscope. Virus may or may not be harmful to humans. Different kinds of virus are found everywhere, in extremes of cold or hot, high pressure or low pressure, high radiation or low radiation etc.
Some virus are useful to us and some cause different types of diseases. The microbes which act as infectious agents to spread diseases are called pathogens or germs. Virus is one of such infectious agents.
Virus replicates itself in the living cells of an organism and spread infection in humans, plants, animals etc. There are approximately 5000 varieties of viruses classified so far in the world. Most common human diseases caused by viruses are common cold, Chickenpox, Polio, Rabies, AIDS, Ebola Fever etc. Millions of people die globally due to virus borne diseases every year. Such diseases are transmitted to others through contaminated air, water, blood, touch, sneezing, sexual contact etc.
Our body has an immune system to kill these viruses. However, when the immune system is weak or the virus attack is severe, the infection takes over. For many known viruses, the vaccines are formulated and injected to the people to fight such infections.
Corona Virus
Coronavirus is transmitted between animals and humans. These are called zoonotic. The symptoms of the affected person include coughing, sneezing, fever, breathlessness, respiratory problems, kidney failure etc. Death may occur in severe cases. This is contagious and spreads through contact with affected person.
As on January 30, 2020 approximately 10,000 cases of a new strand of Corona Virus attack, called as 2019-nCoV have been reported throughout the world. The affected countries include India, Malaysia, America etc. Various countries have issued advisory and alert to their citizens on breakout of corona virus. Some suspected cases of corona virus are also reported from Bihar, Bangalore, Kerala and Delhi. A panic has been created among citizens. People are running for blood test to pathology labs.
The virus is said to have spread globally from Wuhan City in China during last few days. The origin is said to be Wuhan animal produce market in China. Its an airborne virus spreading very fast.
Symptoms of person affected with Corona Virus
A person affected with Corona Virus may have one or more symptoms of the following:
1. Cold, running nose
2. Headache
3. Coughing, Sneezing
4. Fever
5. Difficulty in breathing
Corona Virus Statistics as on February 3, 2020
According to World Health Organization (WHO) there are more than 17000 confirmed cases of people affected with Corona virus from China and more than 150 cases outside china spanning 23 countries. 361 deaths have already been reported so far. Meanwhile many countries have stopped entries to persons travelling from China to curtail the outbreak.
Prevention from corona virus
As of now, there is no cure for this virus. The following preventive actions may be taken to control the spread of Corona Virus
1. Cover your mouth while coughing or sneezing.
2. Wash hands frequently.
3. Use only thoroughly cooked meat.
4. Avoid contact with affected person
5. Use mask as safety measure.
6. Avoid travelling to regions where outbreak of Corona Virus is known.
7. In case of any symptom of coughing, sneezing, cold, fever etc the medical advice should be sought immediately for medicine prescription.
8. Use disinfectant regularly for cleaning
9. Avoid crowded places
10. Use mask and gloves while dealing with domestic animals and pets.
By
RS Shandilya
