A few days ago, (1) the Minister of State for External Affairs of India announced that an Indian nurse working in Al-Hayat Hospital in Saudi Arabia had been infected with the new Coronavirus, and according to his statements - those denied by the Saudi administration - the girl had caught the virus while she was caring for a colleague in the Philippines , To spark new controversy in the months of December and January, when it appeared in the Wuhan region in China and caused the death of some cases.
Sk on the door
You must be asking now: Is "New Corona Virus (2)" (2019-nCoV) really dangerous? It has come to our doors, and the methods of spreading it are very simple as you notice, only by sneezing in the air, touching the patient, shaking hands, or just touching the surface the virus stands on and then rubbing your nose or touching your mouth or eyes by chance, so it was expected That the virus emerge from the Wuhan region in China quickly, especially since the region is on a date with the start of the Lunar New Year festival there, where travel cases to and from the city, and China as a whole, are active.
Well, to understand it, let's calm down a little, and go back together to December (3) of 2002, before that point in our history, the world was treating this type of coronavirus as a benign thing that causes humans to catch colds, the ones that we need to treat that We stay at home, and we take care of the warm soup that our mothers or wives prepare carefully and lovingly, before it turns into a ruthless serial killer. Here we are talking about SARS, or what we know as severe acute respiratory syndrome.
SARS appeared in northern China, and soon after that it exceeded its borders - after only three weeks - reaching the world with a concentrated infection in Southeast Asia, infected by this virus about eight thousand people, and caused the death of more than eight hundred people in 32 countries, and this is still The virus - to date - a potential threat, although it is almost completely contained in many countries, then came the year 2012 when Egyptian doctor Mohamed Ali Zakaria discovered a new case of a similar virus in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
At first glance, it appears that the newcomer is similar to the SARS virus, with several differences, the most important of which is the low prevalence of it among people and the high death rate, especially in high-risk groups, such as the elderly and those with chronic diseases. After that, it turns out that we are facing a separate new case of coronavirus (4) called "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), this dangerous virus too - though - looks like" SARS "and resembles" the new Corona Virus 2019 "in one thing. Just .. its source.
Dangerous animals
These viruses began from the world of wildlife, spread between animals and then - after a set of random mutations in their genetic makeup - they were transmitted to humans in environments in which animals and humans converge extensively, and then evolved to transfer from human to human. You already know a number of zoonotic diseases, AIDS (HIV) for example (5), as well as Ebola, in the case of SARS for example The first infections - and a total of 40% of infections - arose between people who dealt with wild animals with slaughter Or sell, followed by people who lived close to that first group.
In the case of Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, the virus came from camels, and the first infected (6) was a man who owned four of them and lived in a house near his small farm, and the situation is similar in the case of the new Corona virus. The virus has appeared on the huge seafood market in Wuhan, and in the celebration season there is a tremendous amount of crowding between people and animals of all kinds, there you can meet all kinds of creatures packed in cages or oils.
Of course, we do not yet know much about the nature of that jump for the new coronavirus from animals to humans, and perhaps it will not happen. According to 7 new research articles published in the famous "Gamma" medical journal, this is a sign of gravity, to some degree, but despite this, the signs The first is somewhat reassuring 8, after the emergence of the first severe cases also appeared less severe cases, which means that the spread of the virus, and response to it by the human body, less than the case of "SARS" for example, which killed 11% of the infected, while the new virus killed only 4% of Cases to date. (A maximum of 17 deaths in approximately 550 injuries arrived on January 23rd).
Really an emergency?
Add another reassuring point (9), which is that most of the deaths from the new virus were in the elderly, those over 50 years old, as well as those with other chronic diseases, compared to the case of "SARS", the average age of the infected was 40 years, but in In any case, what scientists fear is any rapid development in the composition of the virus so that it can become more widespread and effective in human bodies, but until now we do not see it.
For these reasons, the World Health Organization (10) did not announce - until now - the state of emergency in the face of the virus, and the Director-General of the organization had convened the emergency committee meeting under the International Health Regulations two days ago, but the committee indicated that it was not necessary to announce measures Restricted, but there is no doubt that requires close monitoring and the need to exchange information between countries with a degree of impartiality and accuracy, and there were fears of obfuscating the matter and issuing statements that do not reflect the real reality in order to reduce the event to the citizens.
On the other hand, the Chinese authorities (11) have already started their precautionary measures, as they prevented citizens from entering or leaving Wuhan, then the procedures for placing the city in quarantine began from January 23, and suspended public transportation within the city, and canceled flights Trains leaving the city, and by the evening of January 24, quarantine measures had expanded to 12 cities near Wuhan, killing more than 35 million people. Besides, medical authorities in China have published the complete genome of the virus on a global level so that all the world's scientists can participate in its study and perhaps find a way to treatment or prevention.
As for the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (12), the CDC had announced several days ago, a warning of the third degree, which means a recommendation to postpone unnecessary travel to the affected areas, and in the statement of the center, it appeared that the case was apparently lighter with a clear difference from SARS or syndrome The Middle Eastern respiratory system, many patients developed moderate symptoms and were discharged from hospitals, but despite this the picture is not clear, and the closeness between the new virus and its most severe partners is great, especially since the source appears to be the same (bats, cats, camels).
Movie movies
In any case, the best solution - on a global level - to prevent similar viral leaps is to work to regulate the markets for the sale of animals (for eating or breeding) in general, especially in China, where there are no restrictions that prevent this situation from the terrible accumulation of humans with animals. , Almost all kinds, in one place, and some scientists believe that working to control this matter - in China only and which is the source of a group of dangerous viruses - will save the world a lot of disasters.
As for you, all you can do - as an Arab citizen in your home or work - are the usual personal precautions (13), such as washing your hands with soap and water frequently, especially after being in crowded places, and also avoiding touching the nose, mouth, and eyes repeatedly, Avoid direct contact with infected people or share their tools. Also avoid being in known places of infection (do not travel to it except when necessary), and avoid being in the vicinity of animals (markets).
But the problem is always - especially on social media - is an exaggeration that escalates directly and catastrophically after each "trend", so it becomes similar to what is going on in films such as "Contagion infection" or "Quarantine", it is really dangerous and the authorities concerned are interested in things Like that, because one hit of them costs countries billions of dollars with painful economic fallouts, as happened in SARS, but it is by no means a science fiction, and the prevalence rates of these viruses, even the most severe ones, have not yet approached - albeit slightly - to those films or Both Facebook claims.