1.0 Incubation period and clinical features
Covid-19 is the official name given by the World Health Organization to the new disease associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome corona-virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The average incubation period for Covid-19 is around 4-6 days, and it takes
weeks to die or recover. Symptoms are estimated to occur in 14 days or more, according to Bi Q et al.(n.d.) study. Four evolutionary stages of chest CT scans in Covid-19 patients from symptom onset; early (0-4 days), advanced (5-8 days), peak (9-13 days) and absorption (14+ days) (Pan F et al. n.d.) .
Main symptoms of covid-19 patients: fever, cough, myalgia or fatigue, expectoration, headache, hemoptysis, diarrhea, shortness of breath, confusion, sore throat, rhinorrhea, chest pain, dry cough, anorexia, difficulty breathing, expectoration, nausea. These symptoms tend to be severe in older adults and people with health problems such as diabetes, asthma or heart disease (Viwattanakulvanid, P. 2021).
2.0 Route of transmission
Covid-19 has two routes of transmission, direct and indirect contact. Direct contact transmission is the spread of Covid-19 by touching the mouth, nose or eyes with a contaminated finger. For indirect contact transmission, such as contaminated objects, respiratory droplets and airborne infectious diseases, it is also another way Covid-19 spreads. Remuzzi（2020）‘s paper in the Lancet confirmed human-to-human transmission of the virus
3.0 Covid-19 prevention
Prevention of COVID-19 includes physical distancing, protective equipment such as masks, hand washing and timely testing.
Physical distancing: Physical distancing of more than 1 meter from others can reduce the risk of infection, and a distance of 2 meters may be more effective. The risk of Covid-19 infection is highly correlated with distance from an infected individual. If you are too close to an infected patient, you have the chance to inhale droplets, including the Covid-19 virus that enters your lungs.
Protective equipment: The use of protective equipment such as N95 masks, surgical masks and goggles provides protection to people. Medical masks are essential to prevent contamination when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Non-medical masks may be made of different fabrics and material combinations, so the choice of non-medical masks is very important.
Hand washing: All health care workers and the general public of all ages should practice hand hygiene. Regular and thorough washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is recommended, especially after touching your eyes, nose, and mouth in public places, after coughing or sneezing, and before eating. It is also important to avoid touching the T-zone of the face (eyes, nose, and mouth), as this is the entry point for the virus into the upper respiratory tract. Hands touch many surfaces, and viruses can spread through our hands. Once contaminated, the virus can enter the body through the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth (WHO).
self testing: self testing can help people detect the virus in time and take the correct response. The principle of the COVID-19 test is to diagnose Covid-19 infection by finding evidence of the virus from the respiratory system. Antigen tests look for fragments of proteins that make up the virus that causes Covid-19 to detect if the person has an active infection. The sample will be collected from a nasal or throat swab. A positive result from an antigen test is usually very accurate. Antibody tests look for antibodies in the blood against the virus that causes Covid-19 to determine if past infections have been present, but should not be used to diagnose active infections. A sample will be collected from the blood, and the test will give quick results. The test detects antibodies rather than viruses, so it may take days or weeks for the body to produce enough antibodies to detect.
Reference:
1.Bi Q, Wu Y, Mei S, Ye C, Zou X, Zhang Z, et al. Epidemiology and transmission of COVID-19 in Shenzhen China: analysis of 391 cases and 1,286 of their close contacts. medRxiv. 2020. doi: 10.1101/2020.03.03.20028423.
2.12.Pan F, Ye T, Sun P, Gui S, Liang B, Li L, et al. Time course of lung changes at chest CT during recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Radiology. 2020; 295(3): 715-21. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020200370.
3.Viwattanakulvanid, P. (2021), “Ten commonly asked questions about Covid-19 and lessons learned from Thailand”, Journal of Health Research, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 329-344.
4.Remuzzi A, Remuzzi G. COVID-19 and Italy: what next?. Lancet. 2020; 395(10231): 1225-8. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30627-9.
5.World Health Orgznization [WHO]. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public. [cited Apr 2022]. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public.
Post time: May-07-2022