Coronavirus COVID-19 Symptoms, Causes, Transmission, Prevention

Signs and Symptoms

-Asymptomatic (BUT still contagious) -Fever, Cough, SOB, Sore throat

Prevention Measures and Education

-Handwashing (Frequently): At least 20 seconds -Don't touch mouth, nose, or eyes with hands -Cover your coughing and sneezing and then wash hands afterwards. Always properly dispose of tissue paper that may be used to cover sneeze/cough. -Wear a facemask -Avoid close contact with people who are sick (fever and cough) -Stay informed and visit ready.gov/pandemic for how you can prepare your family -Stay home if sick -Cook meat properly from animals -If patient is showing signs and symptoms, immediately ask about travel history -Know and follow your hospital's plan for COVID-19 (protocols are being developed and are in place....ex: isolation precaution, PPE to wear, testing) -Disinfect surfaces

Transmission: Fecal-oral

-It is suspected that the virus may be shed in an infected person's stool, which can led to the transmission route of fecal-oral. This is still to be determined at this time.

Transmission: Respiratory Droplets

-It seems the virus is primarily spread via droplets. -When a person coughs or sneezes, it naturally causes water droplets from the respiratory system to be expelled. Therefore, when a person, who is infected COVID-19, coughs or sneezes their respiratory droplets contain the virus. The water droplets act as a vehicle for the virus to spread to the respiratory system of others, especially if the person is in close contact with others.

What increases the risk for developing COVID-19?

-Provided care or in close contact with someone with the coronavirus -Traveled to areas with the virus widespread, living in an area with a widespread outbreak, or been in close contact with people who have been to the country with widespread cases -Work closely with animals that have the viruses or consuming their uncooked meat

Testing

-Real-time PCR test: Will assess and detect the genetic material of the COVID-19 virus

Transmission

-Respiratory Droplets -Contact -Fecal-oral

Transmission: Contact

-When a person who is infected with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes etc. the water droplets that contain the virus can fall onto surrounding surfaces/objects. It is unknown how long the virus lives on surfaces at this time. If a person, who is not infected with COVID-19, touches the contaminate objects/surfaces and then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth they could infect themselves with the virus.

Is COVID-19 the same as the virus that causes SARS?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov), the virus is genetically similar to the SARS virus BUT it's NOT the same virus.

Origin of Coronavirus

Coronaviruses come from animals. Animals that are infected with coronaviruses can transmit them to humans. Once the virus is transmitted to humans, humans can start spreading the virus to other humans, and this leads to an outbreak. When this happens it's called a "zoonotic spillover event".

Why is it called coronavirus?

It receives its name from the way the virus looks. The virus has pointy projections that protrude off of it. The word corona in Latin means garland or crown. Therefore, the pointy projections are similar to the projections of a crown. COVID-19 stands for coronavirus disease 2019. COVID-19 is caused by a NEW type of coronavirus that has not been seen in human until now. The virus name is "SARS-CoV-2″.

Incubation Period

State the incubation period seems to be a minimum of 2 days to up to 14 days. This is why people are being quarantined for 2 weeks when they are suspected of having COVID-19. This is because this tends to be the time period when people start showing signs and symptoms. However, recent reports from Chinese provincial government states it could be as long as 27 days

What is the coronavirus?

The word "coronavirus" is a term used to describe a large set of viruses that cause illness, specifically respiratory illnesses. Therefore, there are different types of coronaviruses. Today, we are experiencing a coronavirus virus outbreak that is causing COVID-19.