virology / CUT OUT & KEEP
CORONAVIRUSe f acts
CUT& OUTEP KE
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Facts, not fear will stop the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
DON’T GET CONFUSED BY THE NAME • DISEASE: coronavirus disease (COVID-19) • VIRUS: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the
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Masks are recommended for sick people and healthcare professionals, not healthy people
cause of an ongoing international outbreak of respiratory illness, known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Why do the virus and the disease have different names? Viruses, and the diseases they cause, often have different names. For example, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. People often know the name of a disease, such as measles, but not the name of the virus that causes it (rubeola).
SYMPTOMS MUCH LIKE THE WINTER FLU, THE MOST COMMONLY REPORTED SYMPTOMS INCLUDED FEVER, DRY COUGH, AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH. While most patients (80%) experience mild illness, a small proportion develop pneumonia which, in sever cases, can result in organ failure (3%). Early evidence shows most fatalities are patients who are immunocompromised either due to extremes of age or pre-existing conditions.
TREATMENT There is no currently available treatment or vaccine for COVID-19. However, many of the symptoms can be treated.
RECOVERY
1—14 DAYS
Most cases are mild with recovery taking on average 10 days
FORGET THE MASK, WASH YOUR HANDS There is no evidence that masks protect people who are not already
INCUBATION PERIOD most commonly 5 days
SARS-COV-2 VS OTHER VIRUSES The number of people that one sick person will infect (on average) is called R0. Here are the maximum R0 values for some well-known viruses.
HEPATITIS C (R2)
sick/infected. The most important thing you can do to protect yourself
EBOLA (R2)
is to regularly wash your hands and to touch your face as little as possible
COVID-19 (R2.2)
when you are in public. Masks are better at preventing someone with a viral infection from transmitting the virus
HIV (R4)
than it is at preventing a healthy person from contracting the virus. As such, masks are recommended for infected people,
SARS (R4)
or healthcare professionals treating infected people, and not recommended for most healthy people.
MUMPS (R10)
*N95 masks are the ones that provide protection from respiratory droplets.
MEASLES (R18)
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SA General Public Hotline Number: 0800 029 999, operates Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm Pharmacy Magazine MARCH 2020 |
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