Virus: SARS-CoV-2,
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome,
Coronavirus 2
The new coronavirus is named SARS-CoV-2. It is a SARS virus. You may recall the SARS outbreak, which last reported a case in 2004. SARS is an acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The current Coronavirus is nearly the same as SARS; it has 98% of the SARS molecular structure, hence the reason for being called CoV-2.
Disease: CoVID-19
Coronavirus 2019
The disease that can develop from an infection of SARS-CoV-2 is CoVID-19.
CoVid-19 was discovered in December 2019 as a result of it infecting two people in China.
Will there be a vaccine?
According to a recent report in Time, Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Test Begins as U.S. Volunteer Receives First Shot, by Lauran Neergaard & Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, March 16, 2020 2:30 PM EDT, the first U. S. citizen received the first shot of an experimental coronavirus vaccine leading off a worldwide hunt for protection even as the pandemic surges.
There are about 5,000 different strains of coronaviruses in bats that have not yet been identified and studied, but are known to exist in bat caves along with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is now causing CoVID-19.
SARS is a coronavirus, and prior to the SARS outbreak, coronaviruses were the substance from which colds developed, or at least that was all we knew at that time. While CoVID-19 seems to be the game changer in how we react to a viral pandemic, SARS was the game changer, and we still do not have a vaccine for it.
How is CoVID-19 confirmed?
Using a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which can detect a virus by amplifying its genetic material, the test shows whether the patient's sample contains genetic sequences known to be present in all coronaviruses.
How Are Coronaviruses treated?
Treatment for SARS consisted of oxygen therapy and comfort measures. Treatment for CoVID-19 is the same at this time, absent a successful vaccine. Oxygen therapy may require intubation for breathing assistance while antibiotics are used to combat the bacterial infection.
PREVENTION is the name of the Game
We may not know enough about the new CoVID-19, but we know that it is molecularly similar to SARS, so we can reasonably assure ourselves that measures taken to combat SARS may well be viable against CoVID-19.
- Wash your hands with soap and water after touching any surface that may be contaminated. When soap and water aren't available, use hand sanitizer.
- Disinfect surfaces. Flat surfaces are of greatest danger because germs most often rest on them.
- Stay home in isolation.
- Screen visitors, and disallow permission for anyone who is sick to visit your environment.
Disinfect Surfaces
During the SARS pandemic, several disinfectant sprays were approved by the FDA for the purpose of killing the SARS coronavirus.
SARS was known to remain alive and contagious on surfaces for nine (9) days. The experts are saying that the new Coronavirus only lives up to 48 hours on surfaces.
Surfaces may be disinfected in numerous manners. If you use a spray disinfectant, for example, spray the surface so that it is completely saturated with the disinfectant, then just allow it to air dry (do not wipe it). As the disinfectant evaporates, it kills the viruses on the surface.
If you use disinfectant wipes, be sure to read and carefully follow the instructions on the container. In most instances, disinfectant wipes are misused. For proper disinfecting, one should wet the surface completely with a wipe, and use another and another to keep the surface visibly wet for four minutes (or the duration on the container).
If you are immunocompromised, you may want to wear gloves when around any surfaces that others may have touched.
Keep Distance, No More Shaking Hands
The CDC recommends that people keep a distance from one another. Try to stay away from people and out of their air space when they exhale or cough or sneeze, as this is how the virus moves rapidly through a state.
The CDC also recommends to avoid shaking hands. Some have recommended replacing the handshake with an elbow bump, but many people use elbows to cough. We recommend air bumps, air hugs, air kisses and air waves... no physical contact.
Don't Touch That!
Do not pick your nose especially in public (checking to see who reads this!), do not touch your face, do not wipe your eyes, and do not put your fingers in your mouth. Before touching your face, wash your hands.
wash those hands
Be sure to wash in between your fingers, under your ring, your ring, under your nails, and both top and bottom.
this is how we wash OUR HANDS
WHO shows HOW to wash your hands
Hand Sanitizer
Carry hand sanitizers at all times. Remember: hand sanitizing does not replace hand washing, it is 'Plan B' when a sink and soap are unavailable.
If you cannot buy a hand sanitizer in the store, you might be able to make your own with alcohol and aloe gel. Mix the aloe gel and alcohol together in a sterialized air tight container.
How did the virus infect humans
Researchers identified a receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which infects humans by entering lung cells. Research continues for drugs that can block it.
[The Wuhan outbreak is by no means incidental. Burgeoning wildlife markets in the Wuhan region sell a wide range of animals such as bats, civets, pangolins, badgers and crocodiles. Those animals make it a perfect viral melting pot. Although humans could have caught the deadly virus from bats directly (according to several studies, including those by China's bat woman, Shi, and her colleagues), independent teams have suggested that pangolins may have been an intermediate host. Those teams reportedly uncovered SARS-CoV-2–like coronaviruses in these animals, which were seized in antismuggling operations in southern China.]
According to the documentary, "on February 24 China announced a permanent ban on wildlife consumption and trade", with few exceptions. [The ban] "will stamp out an industry worth $76 billion and put approximately 14 million people out of jobs..." and "some worry that without efforts to change people’s traditional beliefs or provide alternative livelihoods, a blanket ban may push the business underground."
“Eating wildlife has been part of the cultural tradition in southern China” for thousands of years, Daszak says. “It won’t change overnight.”
A black market trade of those animals will surely make disease detection much more difficult.
This page:
SARS Coronavirus 2019
Bibliography
NBC,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies about Coronavirus, COVID-19, during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 3, 2020.