The global medical science network has been making a lot of noise about the newly discovered strain of the coronavirus. News outlets around the world have been picking up this story and getting a lot of attention regarding this newly discovered virus. How will this impact us? What do we know about the coronavirus?
Occasionally health related headlines make it on to the front page of news sites and papers. The novel Coronavirus outbreak that started in China has recently been making a lot of global news and causing much concern along the way. So, what exactly is it and how dangerous is this outbreak?
Coronaviruses have been studied since the 1960’s, but this new strand - the novel Coronavirus - was discovered in early 2020 after the outbreak began in China. Coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases, meaning they are transmitted from animals to humans. While the exact relationship is still fuzzy, evidence suggests this novel Coronavirus is closely related to a similar virus that was transmitted to humans via bats.
The city of Wuhan in China is where scientists believe this new strand first appeared. As of January 28 the virus has infected over 4500 people globally and has resulted in a little over 100 fatalities.
What does one experience under the Coronavirus? Patients show signs of upper respiratory infection, fever, body aches, diarrhea, vomiting, and it could also lead to pneumonia - similar to experiencing the flu.
Speaking of the flu. The flu season is still very active and it is impacting a lot more people and causing significantly more deaths. During just this flu season so far, the CDC estimates that from early October to mid January, about 20 million people have been infected. They also estimate that anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 deaths have happened due to the flu.
To no surprise, health experts are still encouraging folks to get flu shots if they have not already. Remember folks, prevention is key in dealing with things like the coronavirus and especially the flu to keep your community healthy.
