UPDATE: Since this post was written the situation surrounding coronavirus disease, or COVID-2 has changed rapidly and new information is available every day. For the most current information, please visit this page on COVID-2.
If any recent news story has been able to compete for headlines with politics, it’s the recent outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus in Wuhan, China. The virus has gotten legs and made its way to other parts of China and around the world. The new coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, causes a disease that the World Health Organization has termed COVID-19. While there have been over 40,000 cases in China with over 1,000 deaths, it has only been confirmed in 14 people in the U.S., with no cases in Texas so far. But viruses don’t really respect boundaries all that well, so it helps to understand what sort of threat SARS-CoV-2 may pose in the future.
What is a coronavirus?
The word corona is Latin for crown, and it fits this group of viruses because they have spikes on their surface that resemble crowns. Several common respiratory infections – such as the common cold – can be caused by a coronavirus. SARS and MERS are other coronaviruses that caused outbreaks of more severe illness and gained a similar amount of attention as the current SARS-CoV-2 is getting.
How does someone get the new coronavirus?
We don’t currently know exactly how the new coronavirus is spread, but other coronaviruses provide some clues. Typically, they live in animals, but occasionally they jump from animal to human (which is what happened with SARS-CoV-2, as well as SARS and MERS in previous years). Once a person is infected, they can spread the virus to other people.
With coronaviruses, spread is usually person-to-person, meaning a person picks up the virus from an infected person they are in close contact with. This typically happens via respiratory droplets that spread when the infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people within a small area and cause infection. The droplets may also land on an object, and when someone else comes along and touches it, they can then infect themselves by touching their mouth, nose, or eyes. We don’t know just yet if surface contact like this is a way that SARS-CoV-2 can spread.
What will I feel like if I get COVID-19?
Again, COVID-19 is the name for the illness caused by the virus, SARS-CoV-2. So far, the range of illness is mild to severe and has included death. Since the numbers of people with COVID-19 are small, it’s still difficult to say exactly what a typical course of the disease will look like, but cough, fever, and shortness of breath are common.
Am I at risk?
Right now, you probably aren’t at risk in Hunt County. Those who are at most risk are close contacts of those who have been infected – such as household members and healthcare workers – and those who have traveled from Hubei Province, China (high risk) or other areas of mainland China (medium risk). Since there have been so few cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., the current risk is quite low here.
However, the CDC is concerned about the rapid spread in China, and is working to detect and minimize the introduction of the virus to the U.S. Currently, they recommend avoiding all non-essential travel to China, and travelers should be prepared for health-screening and possible quarantine upon return to the U.S. if they choose to make a trip to China.
How can I protect myself?
To start with, it’s flu season, so take all the precautions recommended for avoiding the flu. If you are weakened by the flu, additional exposure to SARS-CoV-2 is likely to be harder on your health. So get your flu shot, wash your hands frequently, and cough into your elbow to reduce the transmission of the flu, COVID-19, and other unpleasant respiratory illnesses.
If you have been exposed to someone who is sick and at risk for COVID-19 because of travel, let your physician know immediately if you develop symptoms.
We are fortunate that the new virus has had a relatively small impact on the U.S. compared to China. However, at Hunt Regional Medical Partners, we are monitoring the developments around this virus so that we have the best information to educate and treat the population of Hunt County. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns about this new virus or your health.
UPDATE: Since this post was written the situation surrounding coronavirus disease, or COVID-2 has changed rapidly and new information is available every day. For the most current information, please visit this page on COVID-2.