Coronavirus Causes, Symptoms, Transmission, Treatment, and Affected Countries

What is Coronavirus?

The family of the series of coronavirus was first discovered by researchers in 1937. They found it to be the main reason for bronchitis in birds and resulted in the destruction of poultry stocks in those years. The human coronavirus (HCoV) was found in the 1960s when people caught a common cold.

“Corona” is a Latin word which means “Crown” or “Halo” hence named Coronavirus due to their crown-like appearance on their surfaces. Usually, among human, it spreads in winters and early weeks of spring.

Corona Viruses are zootonic in nature as they are transmitted between living things. Researches have found that there are many types’ of Coronaviruses.

What are the types of Corona Viruses?

The family of coronaviridae is divided into subfamily of coronavirinae which has further types of Coronaviruses. Each type has different effect on a human body and in terms of how far they can spread along with for how long.

Up until now we know the following types of corona viruses:

229E which is an Alpha Coronavirus

OC43 which is a Beta Coronavirus

NL63 which is an Alpha Coronavirus

HKU1 which is a Beta Coronavirus

MERS-CoV

SARS-CoV

SARS-CoV-2

OC43 and 229E causes a large amount of common colds. While some more rare strains causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome by MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV respectively. And recently in 2019, a new strand of coronavirus was discovered known as SARS-CoV-2 which caused COVID-19.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

In 2002 the SARS-CoV started spreading in Guangdong Province in southern China all the way towards Hong Kong. And then it quickly spread all around the world infecting 24 countries.

This infection can affect the entire respiratory tracts.

The symptoms of SARS take almost a week to appear and usually start with a fever. People usually show flu-like symptoms, for example, dry-coughing, diarrhea, body pains, breathlessness, chills and can further lead to Pneumonia which is a severe lung infection. At the most advance stage SARS can cause organ failures of lungs, heart or liver.

The mortality rate of SARS is calculated to be 9.6% as among almost 8000 diagnosed people around 700 were fatal.

Usually adults of age over 65 faced the fatalness of the disease. Sooner or later by 2003 the world was able to have control over it.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

Firstly it was discovered in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. And later the infection found its way around the world. It even reached to United States of America but after the Arabian Peninsula most cases were diagnosed in South Korea in 2015. The major symptoms of MERS were fever, breathlessness and coughing. In 2019 it was discovered that MERS is around 35.2% of people who were infected by it.

How are These Viruses Transmitted?

Currently we don’t have a lot of information when it comes to transmission of Coronaviruses. However, doctors believe it spreads through fluids in the respiratory system for example Mucus. Coronavirus spreads in the following way:

Coughing and sneezing without covering mouth can spread the molecules in the air. Physical contact like shaking hands or hugging a sick person can spread virus between individuals. Touching your eyes, nose or mouth after making a contact with surfaces having the virus. In animals there is also a type of feline coronavirus which spreads due to the contact with feces of an infected animal. This type is unclear for human beings till now.

Coronavirus Masking in China

COVID-19

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered the emergence of a new type of virus which they named SARS-CoV-2, which started causing respiratory disorder in a human known as COVID-19. This virus was first in Wuhan, China in 2019.

Up until now more than 83.5K people have been infected by the virus in China. Since then health authorities have found the traces of COVID-19 all over the world.

So far COVID-19 has affected almost 54 countries. The first group of people who caught the virus has links to animals such as the seafood market. This information led to the discovery that this virus can transmit from animals to humans. However recently it is proved that it can be transferred from humans to humans as well.

On 17th February 2020 the director-general of the World Health Organization updated the world how much COVID-19 is severe or how much can it be fatal? From the collection of data of 44,000 people who got infected with this virus it can be deduced that;

Almost 80% have mild effects and can recover from it easily.

Around 14% have severe disease which can lead to pneumonia.

Around 5% suffers from a critical disease which can cause septic shock or respiratory failure.

2% people have been discovered to have it to be fatal.

What are the Symptoms of Coronavirus?

Usually the symptoms are of common cold or flu. The symptoms take almost 2 to 14 days to show up while they do vary from person to person as in some people it can be fatal for some.

More symptoms include:

Sneezing

Fatigue

Fever in some cases

Asthma

Soreness in the throat.

Runny nose

What is the Treatment of COVID-19?

So far there is no cure except self-care. People are advised to follow the following precautions:

Avoiding overexertion Drinking water in order to avoid dryness of throat. Avoid smoking Taking medication for pains and fever Cover your mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing. Maintain proper hygiene around your houses.

Who Has More Chances of Catching Coronavirus?

People who have the highest risk of getting COVID-19 are:

Young children who have low immunity rate. People who have an age limit of over 65 years or older.

The virus has a high mutilation rate thus it is highly contagious. Currently, there is no vaccine or medication for COVID-19 but so far they are able to replicate it which can help in early detection and treatment in people.

Countries Who Has Currently Suffering from Coronavirus?

79k people are from from China, Hong Kong and Macau. 2.8k people have died which include 2.7k people from China, 26 from Iran, 17 are from Italy, 13 from South Korea, 9 from Japan, 2 from France and Pakistan, 1 from Philippines and Taiwan.

Countries Affected Includes

Italy has reported 400 cases 139 peple are infected in Iran While other countries like following countries are on high risks: China Japan South Korea Thailand Kuwait Bahrain

Pakistan health minister Zafar Mirza has confirmed 4 cases from Pakistan and claims that the situation is under control so far.