Some unknown facts about corona virus

The Dhaka Times Desk A virus - previously unknown to scientists - has already caused severe lung disease and killed many people in China and has been detected in other countries.

At least 150 people have died from the virus detected in Wuhan, China since last December. These deaths have already been confirmed and experts fear that the number may rise.

It is causing pneumonia in patients, this virus is always a concern. That's why health officials around the world are on high alert.

Is it a modern epidemic or a symptom of a more dangerous disease? What is this virus?

Officials in China have confirmed that the cases of illness or death there have been caused by the coronavirus. Corona virus is an infectious virus - which has never been seen in humans before.

Another name of the virus is 2019-NCOV ie 2019 Novel Corona Virus. It is a type of corona virus. There are many types of corona virus, but only 6 of them can infect the human body. But due to the new type of virus, that number will be 7 from now on.

Since 2002, SARS (the disease's full name is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), an epidemic in China, has killed 774 people and infected 8,098 people worldwide. That too was a type of coronavirus.

"We still haven't forgotten the horrors of Sars, which is why there is so much fear of new viruses. But we are now much better prepared to deal with this type of disease,' said Josie Golding, a doctor at the Wellcome Trust.

How severe can the symptoms be?

Although the virus starts with a fever, a dry cough may follow. Shortness of breath may start after about a week. Many patients have to be hospitalized and treated.

At least one in four hospitalized patients are believed to have a severe condition. Patients with the coronavirus can experience symptoms ranging from mild chills to death.

'When we see someone with the coronavirus, we try to understand how severe the symptoms really are. It's a little more than a cold, which is worrying, but not as serious as SARS,' said Professor Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh.

Where did the disease come from?

Every now and then new viruses are detected in the world. These viruses come from an animal and begin to make a home in the human body.

Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, said of the virus, 'If we look at past pandemics, even if it's a new coronavirus, it came from an animal body. Sars virus first came from the body of the bat to the body of the khattash, then it came to the human body.

The Middle East lung disease Mars (full name: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), in which 858 of 2,494 infected patients died, was routinely transmitted from a humped camel to humans.

Which animal spread this corona virus?

Once the source animal of the virus could be identified, it would be much easier to deal with the disease. The coronavirus is linked to the wholesale market of South Sea food in Wuhai, China.

However, some marine animals can also carry the coronavirus (such as beluga whales), the market in China also has many live animals, such as chickens, bats, rabbits, snakes - these animals can also be a source of the coronavirus. In this regard, researchers say, this virus has a close resemblance to a type of bat named Horseshoe in China.

Why this virus in China?

Professor Ullhaus said that one of the main reasons for this is China's large size and population density, as well as its close relationship with the animals that carry the virus. He also said, 'There will be no surprise if the next big epidemic is in China or in this region.'

How easily can the disease spread between people?

At the start of the outbreak, Chinese authorities said the virus was not spreading to humans - but now there have been cases of the virus. Scientists now say that each infected person is spreading the disease to an average of 1.4 to 2.5 people.

This number is called the 'basic reproduction number' - more than one means the disease has become self-sustaining.

So we have known for a long time that this is a virus that will not destroy or disappear by itself.

The only decision taken in China is that strict measures such as closing down cities can only prevent the spread of the disease.

Although these numbers are still preliminary, they compare the coronavirus to the Sars virus.
What is more worrying here is that people without any symptoms of the disease are also spreading the virus.

It's not yet clear how quickly or easily that could happen, but it would make the virus much harder to contain.

How fast is the virus spreading?

With the increase in the number of patients, about 40 to 800 people are getting infected with this corona virus every week. But even these statistics contain confusion. Most of the new patients were already in China, detected only after China increased its surveillance. Because of this very little information is available about the spread of the epidemic.

But experts say more people are falling ill than the data suggests.

As the number of cases outside of China continues to rise, it is believed that the number of cases reported by the Chinese government (about 6,000 patients) may be double the actual number of patients. But that does not mean that the pandemic has taken on a two-fold shape.

Although the outbreak is still centered in Wuhan, cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Thailand, Japan, France, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Nepal and the United States.

What further changes can the virus undergo?

may be Viruses can always change and change. What this actually means is hard for everyone to say.

Corona virus spreads from one species to another. It may vary from person to person to spread or cause more severe symptoms. That's why scientists are keeping a close eye.

How can the virus be prevented?

We now know that the virus will not destroy itself by any means. Only action by the Chinese authorities can bring an end to this epidemic. No vaccine has yet been discovered to prevent the virus.

The only way to prevent this disease is to not spread the virus to others. That means taking precautionary measures.

Which means:

# Restricting the movement of people.

# Encourage everyone to wash their hands.

# Health workers wear protective clothing and provide medical care to patients in isolation.

Intelligence activities or surveillance systems are also needed to detect whether patients have the virus and to identify people who have come into contact with patients.