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What is Coronavirus and what can we do to protect ourselves?


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The virus apparently originated in China, and someone travelled from there and brought it to Ontario. There is no vaccines for this virus, as of yet. The section of China was put under quarantine, and no one can go in or out.  What can people do in Canada to prepare for it, and what do doctors usually do for these cases, where there are no vaccines, and it could be lethal? I would just like some thoughts and opinions on this virus, or if anyone has any information. Since a person in Canada has it, I think it is safe to discuss and talk about it. People are saying to shut down all flights from China, and even Asia, as apparently this virus is contagious. Here is the link to the news: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-first-presumptive-positive-case-of-coronavirus-found-in-ontario-1.4783477.

Sorry I have been living under a rock and just found out about the virus from the news article.

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Coronavirus presents with flu-like symptoms. Most people who think they have Coronavirus will actually have the far more common Influenza virus instead.

Certain cities in China were put under quarantine as a precautionary measure, not because the situation is dire, but because the government was able to do it. That's the benefit of having absolute power.

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I was in med school during SARS at UofT

 

We are better prepared this time. 
 

it presents with a flu like resp illness - think influenza. Everyone with a febrile resp illness will be placed in isolation with N95 masks. A detailed travel history is taken. 
 

There is no specific cure. The key to treatment is time and supportive care including mechanical ventilation and ICU support. Containment is via BSP and making sure resp isolation is maintained 

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The case fatality rate will likely continue to drop with time too. There is probably a large pool of people who were infected but never sought medical attention, so were never counted when calculating case fatality rate. I was in med school for the 2009 swine flu outbreak. Initial reports put the fatality rate at some crazy number like 30%. Turns out it was far far lower.

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18 hours ago, NLengr said:

The case fatality rate will likely continue to drop with time too. There is probably a large pool of people who were infected but never sought medical attention, so were never counted when calculating case fatality rate. I was in med school for the 2009 swine flu outbreak. Initial reports put the fatality rate at some crazy number like 30%. Turns out it was far far lower.

That makes sense. I doubt the fatality rate would be that high, since any fatality rate is high if no one tries to get treatment for it. Is it a completely new virus? Are scientists trying to create vaccinations for it? Sorry I am trying to find any information about it. It is everywhere in the news, and yet I keep hearing that Canadians do not have a high risk of catching it. I just heard that the wife of the man in Ontario is presumed to have the coronavirus now, and that anyone who was sitting near them in the plane may have a risk as well.

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39 minutes ago, patrickstar said:

There's also been a lot of misinformation online and people are unfortunately using public heath as an excuse to marginalize and discriminate against Asian-Canadians. I keep hearing insane fear-mongering stories that exaggerate literally everything to the point of absurdity. 

I recommend watching this short video:

 

 

People do that about most cultures, when something is in the news that applies to a specific group of people. When Ebola broke out, people of African descent were targeted, so unfortunately this was nothing unusual. I do not see why people should be racist against them, however, I can also see their point of view, since a person did bring it from China and people have this fear that others may be doing the same thing. It's sad that certain types of people constantly try and find anything they can to be racist to others. I don't think Canadians have a high risk of getting the virus anyway, and the part of China where the virus originated has been quarantined as well.

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