Worried About the Coronavirus? You should Know This

Climate and environment blog

How scared should I be for the covid-19 viral disease? Does mouth protection help? Where should I sneeze? How to get the flu? What is an informational epidemic? And what are the authorities doing? Here is a pick from the ABC of infection.

The most contagious and widespread of four types of influenza viruses Type B also causes an annual outbreak, while C causes so mild symptoms that it is not recorded and D has not been detected in humans.

(H1N1). Worst so far. The type A virus that caused the Spanish disease in 1918, when 50 million people died. The letters in the parentheses refer to the surface proteins.

Aerosol. Small particles floating in the air. When you are sick and sneezing, infected mini droplets end up in the air and can infect others. See more under Consideration.

The face. The easiest passage of the virus. Out of the body when an infected cough, sneeze or snort. Into when we breathe aerosols or pills in eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed fingers. We punch ourselves in the face 23 times an hour, according to an Australian study.

Treatment. There is no cure for the new virus. The treatment is, as with other viral infections, about relieving symptoms, such as keeping the airways open. Chinese scientists test HIV drug Kaletra against the new coronavirus infection.

Coronavirus. Other types than influenza virus. There are seven known ones. Four of them give just one cold. In the electron microscope, the virus looks like a crown, hence the name. The new is called SARS CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2).

Covid-19. The name of the World Health Organization WHO has given the disease caused by the new corona virus. The letters represent COrona VIrus Disease.

Droplet infection. Is what it sounds like, infection spread by coughing or sneezing. Infectiousness decreases rapidly with increasing distances.

Europe. More than two thousand cases of Covid-19 have been found, most of them in Italy, the ECDC reports

Alcohol for the hands is good against bacteria but does not bite on all viruses. Therefore, be careful about hygiene and wash your hands with soap and water.

Anyone who coughs and sneezes in the arm fold and maintains good hand hygiene in case of illness protects others from infection, urges the Public Health Authority and encourages the infected to stay away from others.

Influenza. Respiratory tract infection that recurs regularly every winter season. Influenza virus A has the ability to change as the proteins on the surface change (see Y). Therefore, the immunity you got last time does not always protect.

Rumors, misunderstandings and lies about the new coronavirus are flourishing in the media, frightening people unnecessarily.
Incubation period. The time from being infected until you get sick. Is two to fourteen days for the new Coronavirus.

Quarantine. Isolation of a person who may be infectious. Stay at home if you are sick, the Public Health Agency urges.
Surgical masks. Popular way to protect yourself. Works poorly. The mask suppresses the shower when coughing or sneezing, but has no filter that stops virus particles. It leaves the eyes-free. It does not prevent the wearer from peeling on the face.

Emergency. When the WHO issues an international health emergency, more resources can be put into the fight. This has happened because the coronavirus infects humans even outside China, albeit to a limited extent.

Extent. The number of cases of the new virus is approaching hundreds of thousands, of which just over 80 percent in China. South Korea, Iran and Italy are the most severely affected countries in general.

Pandemic. Spread of infection across most of the world with worse consequences than seasonal flu. Three major pandemics were the Spanish illness in 1918 caused by influenza A (H1N1), the Asian 1957 A (H2N2) and the Hong Kong influenza 1968 A (H3N2). Today’s outbreak is not classified as a pandemic -yet.

Risk groups. Viral infections strike the hardest against elderly, fragile and already sick people. Most influenza and covid-19 deaths are over 80 years old. Children, on the other hand, have hardly been affected at all.

SARS. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A coronavirus that was discovered in 2002 and harvested more than 750 deaths before spreading.

Spread of infection. The new corona virus began to spread from animals to humans in the fish market in Wuan. When people who were not there became ill, it was clear that the virus is also transmitted between people.

Symptoms. The viral infection usually manifests itself as a cold with a fever or as the flu. It can spread into the respiratory tract and cause pneumonia that becomes life-threatening for those who are already fragile or ill.

Seasonal influenza. A general outbreak that usually begins in January and reaches its peak in February. Typically dominated by type A and B.

Rules of thumb. Three are available to prevent infection: Avoid close contact with sick people. Wash your hands frequently. Do not touch your face, especially your eyes, neither with your thumb or other fingers.

Vaccine. Preparations that activate the body’s immune system against, for example, viruses. There is currently no vaccine against the new coronavirus. But the research network CEPI hopes to get one by the end of 2020.
Virus. The smallest biological unit that can infect living organisms. A parasite that proliferates in the body’s cells and causes disease. There are over 600 known. The most common ones just make you cold.

Surface protein. Protein that sits on the surface of influenza virus A affects its ability to penetrate cells and thus is crucial to whether you become ill. Two types: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N), which are found in sixteen and nine variants, respectively.

Zoonosis. Disease spread between animals and humans. Many pandemics in humans have started as virus infections in animals, such as birds or pigs. This year’s coronavirus spread in a fish market in Wuhan.

Excesses. Common when an infection hits the media. Closing schools, for example, is an exaggeration, according to the Public Health Authority: “It is unlikely that healthy children would cause the spread of infection. None of the outbreaks we have seen so far of coronavirus are linked to schools or children. “

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