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Recently, one of the deadly viruses of all time has been spread in China, The Coronavirus. Around 81 people have already died because of this virus. Although its incubation period may range from one to fourteen days, this virus is so dangerous that it kills the person even before the symptoms show up. As this virus is spreading rapidly, it is not now bounded to China only; it has started affecting other countries like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Malaysia, and many other countries too. As this virus is as life-threatening as any other dangerous virus, in today’s article of My Mind Speaks, we want our readers to be aware of what Coronavirus is? And what are the symptoms, risks, and precautions of this virus?
What is Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a family of deadly viruses that cause various illnesses like cold, cough, and other diseases. The point of concern is that these viruses end up taking the life of the patients. The most dangerous ones of them all are SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). The one which has been identified in China is a novel coronavirus and was named as nCoV.
How Is Coronavirus Transmitted?
Coronavirus is a zoonotic virus, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). A zoonotic virus is the one which is transmitted from animals to human. And this nCoV has reported being spread through people consuming seafood. It started to spread from a city of Chine named Wuhan, and now it is spreading from human to human as well. This spreading of the virus occurs when an uninfected person comes in contact with an infected person who has nCoV. This contact can be anything, coughing, sneezing, handshake, etc. According to some expert doctors, MERS has likely to be spread through camels whereas SARS through civet cats.
Types of Coronavirus:
Here are some of the kinds of Coronaviruses which affect human dangerously:
- Alpha Coronavirus (229E)
- Alpha Coronavirus (NL63)
- Beta Coronavirus (OC43)
- Beta Coronavirus (HKU1)
These are some of the types of Coronaviruses that commonly affect people all around the world.
How Dangerous is it?
Unfortunately, nCoV is a deadly virus and has taken numerous lives. China has confirmed cases of 25 deaths, and according to reports, it might reach up to 830. This Coronavirus has resulted in 25 deaths without showing up any Coronavirus symptoms. Twenty-four of the deaths took place in the Hubei province of China and 1 in north China’s Hebei. The doctors of China are on their work to look for the Coronavirus treatment as 830 confirmed cases are dealing with this deadly virus in China. According to reports, a total of 1072 suspected cases have been reported at the provincial level region.
Novel Coronavirus Symptoms:
Though the coronavirus symptoms areas same as Influenza or the common cold, if you observe any of the below-mentioned symptoms are persisting or getting even worse, rush to your doctor.
Runny Nose
Do not assume that your runny nose is because you had some cold-drinks at the party. This can be one of the symptoms of this deadly virus; if you observe that your over-the-counter medicines are not healing your runny nose, then you should immediately go to the doctor.
Headache
If you feel a constant headache, and none of the painkillers are working, you better go to your health care provider and get yourself checked. You should not resist or ignore if you are having a constant severe headache that is uncontrollable. It would help if you immediately rushed to the health care provider.
Fever
If you feel like if you have a temperature as high as 103 degrees and instead of fluctuating, it is continually increasing. Then do not wait for the medicines to work. The best approach is to rush the doctor and seek medical assistance.
Sore Throat/ Cough
Another symptom of this deadly Coronavirus is the common cough and sore throat. Due to its frequent occurring, people do not take it too seriously, but if you have a sore throat or cough that is not curing, then you should definitely visit the doctor before its too late.
These were some of the symptoms which indicate the rapidly spreading deadly virus, but unfortunately, many Coronavirus deaths have also occurred without any signs showing up.
Coronavirus Treatments
Unfortunately, there is no vaccine or medicines which can work for Coronavirus treatments. As this is a newly discovered virus, the medical experts are working really hard to prepare any cure for this virus. Following are some things which you could do to help prevent this virus:
- Try to avoid contact as much as possible with the infected person.
- Do not unnecessarily put your hand in your eyes, mouth, or nose.
- Keep your hands and body as clean as possible.
- Wash your hands more often.
Also, if you get diagnosed with this virus, these are the things which might help you cure:
- Drink plenty of water.
- Stay at your home. Avoid contact with uninfected people.
- Take lots of rest.
- Timely take the medicines which are prescribed by your doctor.
- Place a humidifier in the area where you sleep.
- Stay away from your pets and other animals.
- Eliminate all kinds of seafood or meat from your diet.
Diagnosis of Coronavirus
If you have any of the persisting symptoms, your doctor will prescribe you some lab tests respiratory specimens and serum to detect whether the virus has attacked or not. Or how severe the condition is.
If you are observing any of the symptoms mentioned above, you should not wait and get yourself checked from a good health care provider. Also, let your health specialist know if you have recently travelled or had any contact with animals.
What Should We Do?
Panicking is not the solution for this virus. Though this virus is spreading outside China too, the development is not that fast. If we keep the precautionary measures in mind, we can easily eradicate this deadly virus.