Coronavirus Covid-19 Awareness Campaign and Information Page
By Emad El Alem - Biomedresearches Publisher
Feb-2021
View all Author Articles
“Sometimes, I wonder if all this is happening because I didn’t forward that email to 10 people”
Yeah, it’s a joke……funny, isn’t it!
By the way, I found it while I was searching for resources to make this Coronavirus Covid-19 dedicated information page. In fact, enjoying a sense of humor at the time of health crisis, and the pandemic that we have been living in for more than a year is a requirement for the continuation of life, without prejudice of course or affecting the obligations, that must be followed to eliminate this global epidemic.
To be honest, I have avoided writing about Corona Covid 19, as many have preceded me for that, and there are those who are more capable than me, such as government agencies, international organizations, research centers, and well known academics, Who can provide up-to-date information and moment by moment, but at the end, I decided that I must contribute, and present what I have gathered from reliable sources, hoping this will fall in the hands of those who are attentive during their search, and provide them with information, which contributes to their awareness, and in turn through them, to their surroundings, community, and loved ones.
After this introduction, which I hope I did not dwell on without any benefit, let us move on to our most important topic, in which, I will make sure that my talk is brief and covers aspects of public interest, without scientific details, which will make the average reader bored.
Abbreviation and Terms
SARS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome
nCoV: novel coronavirus
HCoV or hCoV: human coronavirus
SARS-CoV-1: The virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak
MERS or MERS‐CoV: Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus First identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
SARS-CoV-2: The virus causing Coronavirus disease 2019 known as “COVID- 19”
SARS = nCoV = HCoV or hCoV = SARS-CoV-2
Simply, and Colloquially known as
Coronavirus OR Just COVID- 19
SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans. it is the successor to SARS-CoV-1.
The earliest known person with symptoms was later discovered to have fallen ill on 1 December 2019, and that person did not have visible connections with the later wet market cluster. However, an earlier case of infection could have occurred on 17 November 2019.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
What is Corona virus?
Now, knowing how the virus started, and different terms used to name it, let us define it as per The World Health Organization "WHO".
(COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people who fall sick will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment. The virus is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and quickly fall on floors or surfaces.
You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of someone who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth..
Is Corona a new virus?
❝ As per Frank Esper, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic, he notes that genetically viruses are separated into four groups: alpha, beta, gamma and delta coronaviruses; only alpha and beta coronaviruses have been found to infect humans. The older human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s, but have likely circulated in humans for centuries. These include 229E (alpha coronavirus), NL63 (alpha coronavirus), OC43 (beta coronavirus) and HKU1 (beta coronavirus). For the most part, these older iterations present with a mild respiratory infection, except for HKU1, which can also cause gastrointestinal infection, he notes.
Dr. Esper refers to the newer coronaviruses as “true emerging infectious diseases.” These include SARS-CoV (SARS), MERS-CoV (MERS) and, of course, SARS-CoV-2. He explains, “These are strains that have undergone recent animal-to-human transition.” This can happen when a virus either mutates directly to humans, or through a second (intermediary) species that then further mutates into a human pathogen. “This is what we saw with SARS in 2002-2003 and MERS in 2012 and likely what just happened with SARS-CoV-2,” he says. [1] ❞
Human Coronavirus Types
❝ As per CDC, Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surface. There are four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses, known as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s. The seven coronaviruses that can infect people are:
Common human coronaviruses:
Other human coronaviruses
Sometimes coronaviruses that infect animals can evolve and make people sick and become a new human coronavirus. Three recent examples of this are 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. [2] ❞
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are:
Other symptoms that are less common and may affect some patients include:
What happens to people who get COVID-19?
Among those who develop symptoms, most (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing hospital treatment. About 15% become seriously ill and require oxygen and 5% become critically ill and need intensive care.
Complications leading to death may include respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic shock, thromboembolism, and/or multiorgan failure, including injury of the heart, liver or kidneys.
In rare situations, children can develop a severe inflammatory syndrome a few weeks after infection.
COVID-19 Prevention:
Stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, especially when distancing cannot be maintained, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds and close contact, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue.
How long does it take to develop symptoms?
The time from exposure to COVID-19 to the moment when symptoms begin is, on average, 5-6 days and can range from 1-14 days. This is why people who have been exposed to the virus are advised to remain at home and stay away from others, for 14 days, in order to prevent the spread of the virus, especially where testing is not easily available.
What should I do if I have COVID-19 symptoms?
If you have any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, call your health care provider or COVID-19 hotline for instructions and find out when and where to get a test, stay at home for 14 days away from others and monitor your health.
If you have shortness of breath or pain or pressure in the chest, seek medical attention at a health facility immediately. Call your health care provider or hotline in advance for direction to the right health facility.
If you live in an area with malaria or dengue fever, seek medical care if you have a fever. If local guidance recommends visiting a medical centre for testing, assessment or isolation, wear a medical mask while travelling to and from the facility and during medical care. Also keep at least a 1-metre distance from other people and avoid touching surfaces with your hands. This applies to adults and children.
Are antibiotics effective in preventing or treating COVID-19?
Antibiotics do not work against viruses; they only work on bacterial infections. COVID-19 is caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not work. Antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
In hospitals, physicians will sometimes use antibiotics to prevent or treat secondary bacterial infections which can be a complication of COVID-19 in severely ill patients. They should only be used as directed by a physician to treat a bacterial infection.
Vaccine Development Timeline:
The vaccine development process typically takes 10 to 15 years under a traditional timeline. Multiple regulatory pathways, such as Emergency Use Authorization, can be used to facilitate bringing a vaccine for COVID-19.
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office from Washington, DC, United States.New mechanism used by some of the newly approved or being developed vaccines:
Vaccine candidates use different mechanisms, such as those shown above, to prompt the body to produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office from Washington, DC, United States.
