The world is passing through a tough time now. Coronavirus outbreak has put human life to a halt. It reminds us of the 1918 Flu or the Spanish Flu which killed millions of people. The Covid-19 epidemic may soon become pandemic and that is of great concern for human lives.

There is no cure to this disease yet and the symptoms are also too general which makes it difficult to diagnose the disease quickly. In this high crisis moment, we should fight with everything we have. It is important to know everything about this disease so that we can use our common sense and the advice of the health experts to prevent this disease.

How did it start?

The Covid-19 virus came from an animal, but the researchers are still trying to pin out which animal. Depending on genetic analysis, the Chinese researchers suggested that it came to form Pangolins; however, the result is not confirmed yet. Those who were initially infected probably worked in the Huanan seafood wholesale market of Wuhan city in China. This virus can spread through coughs, breath and even when the infected person sneezes. This virus is spreading at a faster rate than the SARS and MERS.

What is the present condition?

According to WHO, until now there have been 90,870 confirmed cases of affected people of which 80, 304 cases are from China. Nearly 3,000 people have died so far. The virus has spread to 72 countries and 166 people have died outside China. There is a high possibility that the virus will spread in other countries soon as well.

Symptoms

The common symptoms of the infection are cough, fever, breathing difficulties, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, you can have pneumonia, kidney failure, acute respiratory syndrome or even death. The symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the infection. Old people, those with a heart problem and weak immune systems are at more risk of having the infection.

Diagnosis

If you find any of the above-mentioned symptoms then you should immediately visit a doctor. The doctor will take a sample of your saliva, throat swab or nasal swab for testing in the lab. If you have recently come from China or have been in touch with someone having the infection, then you must visit the doctor immediately.

The symptoms of this virus may not be apparent for several days. One way to self-test is by taking a short breathing test every morning. Just hold your breath for 10 seconds. If you don’t find any difficulty during the process, like coughing, shortness of breath or tightening of the chest then the virus probably has not entered your body.

Treatment

No vaccine has been invented to fight this infection yet. Those who are diagnosed with this virus are given pain relievers and cough syrup. The doctor asks to take complete rest and drink lots of fluids just like you will do when you have the normal flu. The person diagnosed with this virus must stay in a separate room and shouldn’t come in contact with other people. The infected person and the others surrounding him or her must wear a protective mask all the time.

Prevention

As there is no concrete treatment for this virus, you should do everything to prevent it. For the past few months the health experts have been trying to find out ways to prevent the contamination of the virus. Here are some preventative measures you can take.

Drink water

Drink water every 15 minutes so that your throat doesn’t remain dry. That way the virus will get flushed out of the body or get killed by the stomach acids. So, you should stay hydrated all the time to be healthy.

Eat vitamin C rich food

Have lots of vitamin C containing food which includes orange, strawberries, spinach and broccoli to name a few. This will boost your immune system and you will be able to fight with the infection. The doctors of China are doing research currently to find out whether vitamin C supplements can help prevent the infection, but no research result has been published yet.

Practice good hygiene

You should wash your hands with soap and water for 30 seconds. You should wash hands frequently, especially when you come from outside. Instead of soap, you can also use alcohol-based sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol. You must routinely clean the surfaces with disinfectants that you touch often like doorknobs, table, light switches, desk, toilets, laptops, keyboards, tablets, mobile phones, etc.

Change your lifestyle

Stay at home if you are sick and refrain from meeting others. You should maintain at least 1 meter between yourself and another person, especially those who are sneezing or coughing. You should avoid shaking hands with others and going to any big social gatherings.

If there is an outbreak in your area, refrain from going outside unless it's necessary. If you have children at home, make sure that they stay home all the time. You can talk to the school authorities about closing the school for some time so that there is less chance of children being infected. You can stock up necessary items like food, medicine, etc. so that you don’t have to go out often.

Protect your mouth and nose

Cover your mouth and nose with a mask making sure that there is no gap between the mask and the face. Touch the mask with clean hands and you should wash the mask frequently. Avoid touching your nose, eyes or mouth because throughout the day we touch many things and viruses may get into our body through nose, mouth or eyes. If you sneeze or cough covers your face with a tissue and dispose of the tissue in the trash.

The doctors and researchers are working to find a vaccine for the Coronavirus, but it will take time. Even if they find a vaccine, it is a long process to get in approved by the FDA and making it commercially available for the mass population. In the meantime, we should take precautionary measures to protect ourselves from this life-threatening virus.