Coronavirus Introduction
Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can be mild, such as some cases of the common cold (among other possible causes, predominantly rhinoviruses), and others that can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Symptoms in other species vary: in chickens, they cause an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections 1.
In late 2019, a novel coronavirus, now designated SARS-CoV-2, was identified as the cause of an outbreak of acute respiratory illness in Wuhan, a city in China. In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the disease COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease in 2019 2.
World Health Organization recommendations Covid-19
- Diligent hand washing, particularly after touching surfaces in public. The use of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol is a reasonable alternative if the hands are not visibly dirty 3.
- Respiratory hygiene (eg, covering the cough or sneeze) 4.
- Avoid touching the face (in particular eyes, nose, and mouth).
- Avoiding crowds (particularly in poorly ventilated spaces) if possible and avoiding close contact with ill individuals 5.
- Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces that are frequently touched. Some disinfectants for use against Covid-19 can find here 6.
- WHO recommends that contacts of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 be quarantined for 14 days from the last time they were exposed to the patient 7.
How to prepare and take action for COVID-19
Protect Your Home
Create a household plan of action including 1. Talk with the people who need to be included in your plan. 2. Plan ways to care for those who might be at greater risk for serious complications. 3. Get to know your neighbors. 4. Identify aid organizations in your community. 5. Create an emergency contact list 8.
Practice good personal health habits and plan for home-based actions. 1. Practice everyday preventive actions now. 2. Choose a room in your home that can be used to separate sick household members from those who are healthy 9.
Be prepared if your child’s school or childcare facility is temporarily dismissed. Learn about the emergency operations plan at your child’s school or childcare facility 10.
Disinfecting your home if someone is sick
*Wear disposable gloves to clean and disinfect *
Clean surfaces using soap and water. some surfaces including Tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, etc 11.
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Some medicine which positive and negative effect on some Covid-19 patients :
– Medicine with negative or not effective in treating COVID-19 :
1- Ibuprofen: The World Health Organization recommended on Tuesday that people suffering from Covid-19 symptoms avoid taking ibuprofen after French officials warned that anti-inflammatory drugs could worsen effects of the virus 12. (Unverified news, discussion about the negative effect continues 13.)
2- Tamiflu: Iran’s health ministry spokesman has announced that studies show the medicine called Tamiflu does not prevent or treat the coronavirus disease 14.
– Medicine with positive effects in treating COVID-19 :
1- Acetaminophen: acetaminophen can cause serious liver damage in high doses. In low doses is “very effective” for reducing fever and “very safe.” 15.
2- Azithromycin (Zithromax): positive data for the use of its azithromycin (Zithromax) drug, along with hydroxychloroquine, in a coronavirus (Covid-19) clinical trial performed in France 16. (More Data Needed)
3- Hydroxychloroquine: The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, two common and already FDA-approved drugs that could stem the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic 17. (More Data Needed)
4- Chloroquine: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies 18. patients treated with chloroquine demonstrated a better drop in fever, improvement of lung CT images, and required a shorter time to recover compared to parallel groups 19.
5- Oseltamivir: Oseltamivir is another drug approved for influenza A and B treatment; it inhibits the viral neuraminidase and, consequently, blocks the release of viral particles from host cells, reducing the spread in the respiratory tract 20.
6- Actemra: We thank the FDA for rapidly expediting the approval of this clinical trial to evaluate Actemra in critically ill patients suffering from pneumonia following coronavirus infection and we’re moving forward to enroll as quickly as possible 21. ( One Iranian Covid-19 patient treated with Actemra 22).
7- Lopinavir/ritonavir: Russian doctors have found lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) medication effective for the treatment of mild coronavirus cases 23. ( Lopinavir-ritonavir treatment showed no benefit in hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19, according to results from a clinical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine 24.)
9- Ribavirin/Interferon: Using of ribavirin and interferon was not recommended as first-line treatments because of the risk for side effects 25.