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walmart thermometer, The CDC has confirmed the 7th case of the disease in the US, insight from Dr. Marc Siegel. Most of us feel at least a bit of anxiety over the latest ‘flu’ challenge – novel 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This stems primarily from the fact that we have a sense of helplessness about protecting ourselves and loved ones from this unknown. With the loss of trust in so many institutions, we’re also not certain that those charged with keeping us safe are actually doing what needs to be done.
walmart thermometer - So here’s the good, the bad and the ugly of 2019-nCoV: THE GOOD So far there have been only eight cases of infection in the U.S. by this new bug It appears that all but one of those have occurred in people who had traveled to Wuhan, China before coming to the states and therefore contracted their illness outside of our borders. The spouse of one of these patients – who had not traveled to China – contracted the disease, which is evidence for the human to human transmission. This raises the greatest concern of all. However, it appears that close contact with an infected person is needed in order to become infected yourself.
walmart thermometer, CORONAVIRUS EVACUEES TO BE HOUSED AT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS AND COLORADO MILITARY BASES It also appears that the mortality rate of this new infection is significantly less than other coronavirus epidemics (SARS and MERS) within the past 20 years. Around 10 percent of those contracting SARS died and 34 percent of those with MERS didn’t survive. Though it’s early with the Wuhan virus, it appears that the mortality rate is 2-3%. Should this hold, understanding that any virus can mutate at any time to become more virulent, it will be a blessing that we don’t see a higher death rate.
walmart thermometer - THE BAD When a new coronavirus presents itself, it usually can be rapidly contained because its transmission most often is from animal to human. This allows for much easier isolation of people from the source of infection along with work to decrease the number of vector agents. This 2019-nCoV has demonstrated extremely rapid spread which made it apparent early on that human to human transmission was likely, if not proven quickly. As of this writing, there have been over 14,000 documented cases with the spread of infection including persons who had not traveled to or from China. This makes it much more difficult to isolate, predict and control.
walmart thermometer - In addition, because viruses are not able to be treated with antibiotics, the care available for those infected is primarily supportive. Treatment consists of mitigating the symptoms with fluids, anti-viral agents and medications for fever and aches. A vaccine is the best form of care to stop the spread and prevent greater numbers of infections from occurring or spreading. With a new virus, however, developing a vaccine that is safe and effective takes some time. The gene sequence of 2019-nCoV was determined very quickly and the CDC has made that information available to all so that manufacturers can work as rapidly as possible to develop that new vaccine. It is likely that we’ll not have this protection available until late summer or early fall at the very earliest.