Novel Coronavirus

Introduction

The novel coronavirus is a virus with a large outbreak beginning in 2019., that has not previously been documented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the virus as causing a respiratory illness. It originated in Wuhan, China, but has begun to appear internationally. The new coronavirus has been given the name of 2019-nCoV, standing for 2019 novel coronavirus. Coronaviruses are commonly found in animals, especially bats. Since the virus can be transmitted from animals to humans it is zoonotic.

Symptoms and Spread

The only consistent symptoms among patients are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Unfortunately, the vagueness of these symptoms mean it could be disguised as other diseases with the same symptoms, such as the flu or pneumonia. In addition, some patients have shown no symptoms at all. This also makes controlling the spread of the coronavirus difficult because it can be hard to tell who is infected, until they have already had the chance to spread the virus to multiple other people through droplet transmission, which typically occurs within 3 feet of contact. As a college student who lives in a dorm, I am constantly within 3 feet of people, whether it is in class, the dining hall, or my dorm room. I imagine how easily I could become infected if someone else on my campus had the coronavirus, and that makes me extremely nervous since this disease can be fatal.

Prevention Measures

Since I personally come into close contact with so many people throughout my daily life I became interested in learning how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The best methods include: frequently washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home when sick, and disinfecting frequently touched objects. I am hoping that by being vigilant about these methods, I can keep myself from getting any virus in general. In addition, these prevention methods should be practiced by everyone, but especially immunocompromised people, who according to the World Health Organization are more susceptible to developing the virus. Unfortunately, prevention measures are currently our best response to the novel coronavirus since antibiotics are not effective because it is not a bacteria.