Fact 5. Over 2 million years of evolution, our immune system has learned to deal with most known infections, but the new coronavirus catches it by surprise, this it’s so hard to cope with and quite easy to get infected.
Fact 6. Once in a cell, the virus “seizes” control over it and forces it to endlessly produce its own copies - instead of its usual proteins. A chain reaction begins. As a result, the cell dies, but the carrier of the infection becomes contagious.
Fact 7. At the initial stage of infection, the new coronavirus actively reproduces itself in the throat and upper respiratory tract. Then the infection goes down and can reach the lungs, causing inflammation.
Fact 8. That is why the first symptom of infection is a cough. Only then the temperature begins to rise.
Fact 9. Or it does not begin - in 30% of patients in Wuhan, the temperature at the time of arrival at the hospital was normal.
Fact 10. Many people who become infected (18% or one in five people) do not even have a cough. The disease proceeds without any symptoms at all: a person may not even suspect that he is sick.
Fact 11. Moreover, such an asymptomatic patient is still an active carrier of infection and can infect others.
Fact 12. If Covid-19 proceeds benignantly, its symptoms are very similar to the usual seasonal flu: dry cough, fever, fatigue, sometimes muscle pain or headache.
Fact 13. Covid-19 is also treated in the same way as regular flu - at home, symptomatically.
Fact 14. One of the most unusual symptoms of coronavirus is the loss of a sense of taste and/or smell.
Fact 15. Loss of a sense of taste and/or smell is not a common symptom - is does not necessarily happens in all Covid-19 cases, sometimes it is the only symptom.
Fact 16. So if you suddenly stop smelling or tasting, this is a reason to grow suspicious and take measures.
Fact 17. Important: the carrier of a new coronavirus becomes dangerous to others immediately after being infected - long before the first symptoms (if any).
Fact 18. The good news: the more deadly a virus is, the worse it is spreading. By killing its master, the virus can no longer infect others. Therefore, the virus rarely mutates into a more deadly form, it is not in its interests.
Fact 19. The bad news: SARS-CoV-2 - is just from a different category. This virus makes its host a spreader, but it does not appear immediately or does not appear at all, so the carrier manages to infect several more people.
Fact 20. On average, each carrier of a new coronavirus manages to infect 2 to 4 healthy people. This number is higher than seasonal flu (1.3), but lower than measles (12+).
Fact 21. Although, like any infection, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has the so-called superspreders - carriers that infect incomparably more people: hundreds or even thousands.
Fact 30. The pandemic is quickly developing: 100,000 patients 67 days after the first diagnosis, the second 100,000 became ill in 11 days, and the third - in 4 days.
Fact 39. This, by the way, is a standard measure in China: first they close the markets when a new infection is suspected and lockdown is introduced. It usually helps, but this time it was too late: the asymptomatic virus has already gone "to the people."
Fact 40. No, the virus did not run away from the biological laboratory, no matter how much someone would like to believe it.
Fact 41. The version of the artificial origin of coronavirus was carefully checked by several teams of scientists from different countries at once and rejected as untenable.
Fact 45. When coughing from an infected patient, the smallest drops of saliva fly off, each of which may contain billions (!) of virus particles.
Fact 46. It makes sense to wear a mask for those who are afraid to infect others. It does not provide 100% protection, but slightly reduces the risk to others.
Fact 47. Contrary to popular belief, pets can NOT spread the coronavirus. No cases of human infection from a dog or cat have yet been reported.
Fact 48. But the virus can be picked up in an absolutely empty room, where the infected had previously been present.
Fact 49. In the air, the coronavirus remains viable (that is, it can infect healthy people) for three hours.
Fact 50. On plastic and steel surfaces, SARS-CoV-2 remains dangerous for up to three days, on paper and cardboard - up to a day, on copper - up to four hours.
Fact 51. That is why the main and most reliable means of prevention is to wash your hands thoroughly after contacting any surfaces outside your home.
Fact 52. If there is no opportunity to wash your hands with soap, use hand gel antiseptic.Fact 52. If there is no opportunity to wash your hands with soap, use hand gel antiseptic.
Fact 53. At the very least, miramistin or chlorhexidine will do for disinfection: they both destroy bacteria and viruses.
Fact 54. Antibiotics against coronavirus are useless.
Fact 55. Lockdown and other restrictive measures may be extended around the world (with short interruptions) until a vaccine or effective treatment for Covid-19 are found.
Fact 56. It is absolutely clear that an effective vaccine for coronavirus will NOT appear earlier than in a year - year and a half, by the mid or end of 2021. At this point under the threat are likely to get sick.
Fact 57. Vaccine may never appear at all. The whole world has been trying to develop a vaccine against HIV for 35 years - this mounted to nothing. Although HIV pills have already been developed for effective prevention.
Fact 58. There is no specific therapy for SARS-CoV-2 yet. Infected people are treated exclusively symptomatically, that is, they are fighting not with the disease itself, but with manifestations of a disease.
Fact 59. Over 100,000 people with confirmed Covid-19 have successfully recovered.
Fact 60. The majority of patients (over 80%) do not need medical assistance at all. They treat themselves at home, with the help of ordinary flu, and usually recover in about a week.
Fact 61. Approximately one in five or six cases require for hospitalization, this is true mainly for the elderly and/or those with chronic diseases.
Fact 62. In heavy cases (about 4%), the patient needs lung ventilation - i.e. to get connected to a ventilator. The ventilation apparatus may not be enough if there are too many sick people. Some car companies have switched to the production of ventilators.
Fact 63. This is one of the main causes of high mortality in Italy. There are a lot of elderly patients, the peak load on hospitals and, as a result, the emaciation of medical staff and lack of equipment.
Fact 64. For 10,300 Italians recovered from Covid-19, more than 8,000 died. Another 62 thousand people are still ill (data as of March 27).
Fact 65. In a separate development, the search for a remedy for the virus goes on. There is no time to develop new drugs, because doctors are checking existing antiviral drugs, namely how effective they are in the fight against SARS-CoV-2.
Fact 66. In February, Chinese doctors noticed that chloroquine, a drug designed to prevent and treat malaria, does a good job in tratment of coronavirus. Since then, several studies have confirmed its effectiveness in controlling Covid-19.
Fact 70. In some cases, heavily ill Covid-19 patients got transfusion of blood plasma from recovered people - with antibodies against the virus. This practice has proven itself during outbreaks of SARS, MERS and Ebola virus and has been officially recommended by WHO.
Fact 71. Sneezing is NOT a symptom of coronavirus. Coughing - yes, sneezing - no.
Fact 72. SARS-CoV-2 continues mutating. From December to March, some variants of the virus managed to change the genome 14 times.
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