Coronavirus pandemic is a matter of concern

By Dr Yadu Singh

Coronavirus infection has affected more than 20 countries and World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it as a global health emergency last week. Some airlines have stopped flying to China and the US has temporarily stopped allowing entry of Chinese travellers. Several cities in Hubei province of China including Wuhan are in lockdown with around 50 million people not allowed to leave those places. Several countries including Australia are working on evacuation of its nationals from Hubei province. Like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic, which negatively affected global economy  to approximately $60 billion, this pandemic too is likely to have a significant, if not worse, impact on the global economy.

Coronavirus is a novel virus, which means it has never been seen before. It has been named as 2019-nCoV.  It had its origins from animals like bats, just like SARS pandemic in 2002. The infection started in Hubei province of China and its epicentre is the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, where live and recently slaughtered animals were sold. Many of the initial victims were either the workers at or the visitors to this market. The infection started in early December 2019 and within a few weeks, there are 11000 people with the infection and 258 deaths in China. The actual number of people with the infection is likely to be much higher because people with asymptomatic or milder infection might have not sought medical attention. Coronavirus infection has been reported from 20 countries. Australia has reported ten cases and India also has reported coronavirus infection.

Its symptoms are cough, fever, breathlessness. The most serious manifestation is viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure and death. Elderly people and those with poor immune system or respiratory diseases seem to be at a higher risk. Health care workers are also at risk of contracting the infection from the patients, unless they take appropriate protective measures. From the limited data available so far, its mortality rate is about 2-3% in contrast to 10% with SARS infection. Human to human transmission has been reported and is occurring. There is no specific treatment including anti-viral treatment available as of today and antibiotics don’t work as it’s not a bacterial infection. There’s no vaccine available either. The virus has been cloned and testing kits have been developed, which is helping in the diagnosis of this infection.

Since we do not have any cure or vaccine, the best approach to contain the pandemic is to stop the spreading of this virus to more people. This can be achieved by avoiding crowded places, where infected (with or without symptoms) people are likely to be present, washing hands for 20-30 seconds with soap and water or alcohol-based hand cleansing gel or liquid, using a protective mask, not sneezing or coughing in the air, which means we should cover our face and nose with clothes or tissue paper when sneezing or coughing, and not touching the mucosa of the eyes, nose and mouth. We should not travel to Hubei, province of China, especially Wuhan, and avoid traveling to China in general unless it is extremely necessary. If you have been to China in the last 2 weeks or have been in contact with someone with definite or likely infection in the last 2 weeks, you should seek medical help and isolate yourself to help stop the spreading of the virus. If you have to go to a medical facility i.e. GP, pharmacy or hospital, you should call them before going there and inform them about the relevant history.

It is vital that every effort should be made to restrict and control the spreading of coronavirus infection.We all have a role to play in this effort.

Dr Yadu Singh is a Sydney based Cardiologist with a deep interest in community matters. He has previous training in immunology and infectious diseases, which included training with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA.