The symptoms that appear when the new coronavirus is infected

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main symptoms of infection and onset of this new coronavirus include:

▽ respiratory symptoms such as fever,

cough, and

breathlessness

, and muscle pain and malaise. Is being reported.

In severe cases,

▽ may cause pneumonia or dyspnea, or

▽ may result in reduced kidney function.

WHO is about 20% more severe

Regarding the severity of the symptoms, WHO says that most people have mild symptoms, but about 20% of them are likely to be severe.

On the other hand, according to Chinese health authorities, some patients did not have much fever and were almost normal.

Incubation period Minimum 1-day Maximum 14 days

In terms of the incubation period between infection and symptoms, Chinese health officials state that patients with relatively low symptoms have around 10 days, the shortest at 1 day, and the longest at 14 days.

Patients who died Many people with a pre-existing illness that reduce immunity

Regarding the age of patients, according to the WHO, so far it has been mainly adults, but it has been reported in a wide range of generations from small children to the elderly.

According to the WHO, many of the patients who died had pre-existing illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart and blood vessel disorders that reduced immunity.

Fatality rate stays around 2% -3%

The fatality rate, which indicates the proportion of those who died among those who developed the disease, has been changing from 2% to 3% as of January 29.

Data such as symptoms and mortality may change in the future as the number of patients increases. For this reason, the exact mortality rate and how susceptible to illness are still unknown.

Symptomatic treatment without vaccine or silver bullet

Since this new coronavirus is different from the previous "coronavirus", which was often spread among humans, it is thought that no one other than the infected person has immunity to this virus.

There is no vaccine or silver bullet for the new coronavirus as it does for influenza. For this reason, when symptoms occur, treatment is performed according to symptoms, so-called symptomatic treatment.

For example, if you have difficulty breathing, give oxygen inhalation. If it is heavy, use a ventilator. Rarely, various treatments are combined according to the symptoms.

According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, during these treatments patients wait for themselves to acquire immunity and shed the virus.

Medical Association "Before coming to a medical institution, please call first"

At a news conference, Vice Chairman Matsubara of the Japan Medical Association said of the new coronavirus, "In the initial Chinese announcement, it was lighter than SARS, but now we recognize that it is quite dangerous." Said.

In addition, he said, "If you have a possibility of infection, please call us first before coming to a medical institution and confirm which facility can handle it." To prevent secondary infection at hospitals, First, I consulted with the nearest health center or medical institution, and called on a specialist medical institution.

Estimated infectivity Potential for future changes

As a measure of infectivity, the WHO has announced that as of the 23rd of this month, the estimated number of patients infected from one person to another would be between 1.4 and 2.5.

This number is less than one in SARS, two to three influenza, and 12 to 18 measles. These numbers may change based on information about infected people in the future.

Chinese health officials also pointed out that the infection could spread during the incubation period, but the WHO has called for further investigation, suggesting that this may be a limited case.

Infectiousness needs to be carefully monitored, as the nature of the virus may change in the future.

Definitive diagnosis Testing at the genetic level

Testing for the new coronavirus is done at the genetic level.

According to the manual prepared by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, various specimens such as sputum, blood, urine, etc., as well as mucous membranes and secretions behind the throat and nose are used for testing.

At the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and local health laboratories, the genes contained in the samples sent are amplified and examined using a method called PCR.

Using this method, it is possible to detect the presence of a coronavirus gene fragment and to determine whether the virus has been infected.

In addition, it can be diagnosed using a device that directly analyzes the virus genes contained in the sample.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it takes about 4 to 8 hours for a test called “real-time PCR” until the test results are available, and one day if a device that analyzes virus genes in detail is used. From about three days.

Human-to-human transmission in the world

To date, the spread of the new coronavirus in China has been reported to have spread from person to person in four countries and regions outside China.

Among them, in the case of Vietnam, infection was confirmed in a man in his 60s who came from Wuhan, Hubei Province, and his 20s son who had not visited Wuhan in the past few months His son was confirmed to be infected, and the WHO announced on Wednesday that the father was suspected to have transmitted his son.

In Taiwan, a woman in her 50s who was confirmed to be infected with a coronavirus after returning to Taiwan after staying in Wuhan was also confirmed, and health authorities may have been infected at home on Tuesday. Was shown.

In Germany, a 33-year-old German man working for an auto parts manufacturer in southern Bavaria was confirmed to have been infected, but a Chinese lecturer in a workshop he attended a week ago confirmed that the virus had subsequently been transmitted. Health officials have indicated in the training that there was a possibility of human-to-human transmission.

In addition, three men who worked at the same manufacturer as this man were newly infected, and we are also testing other employees for infection.

In addition, it has been confirmed that Japanese men in their 60s who live in Nara Prefecture and have not traveled to Wuhan in Japan are infected with the virus.

The development of vaccine therapeutics 

The development of vaccines and remedies has also begun.

The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, announced today that it has successfully isolated and cultured the virus from patient samples.

According to the research institute, it is the first time that a new type of coronavirus has been cultured outside China, and the virus will be provided to laboratories in various countries through the World Health Organization (WHO), and it will be possible to check for infection even during the incubation period. It can be used for testing methods and vaccine development.

Mr. Catton said, "What has been stagnated by this culture will move forward," stressing the significance that research in response to the new coronavirus will accelerate in the future.

"We will begin a clinical trial to confirm the efficacy and safety of the vaccine within three months," said Anthony Fouch, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, according to an interview with the US media.

WHO is one of the same coronaviruses, and it is said that vaccines under development as measures against "MERS" causing severe pneumonia will be effective for new coronaviruses.

In addition, regarding the development of therapeutics, it has been reported that two drugs used to prevent the development of AIDS were effective in treating SARS of the same coronavirus. Authorities have shown plans at several hospitals to administer these drugs depending on the condition of the pneumonia patient.

Dr. U.S. Starts developing vaccines Examination within 3 months

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health held a press conference on the response to the new coronavirus, which is spreading in China. Among them, Dr. Anthony Fouch of NIH revealed that he began working on vaccine development in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Modena, which is developing vaccines such as Zika fever, and in the early stages within three months Showed the prospect that we could start testing.

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has also announced that it has begun developing vaccines, while U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Inovio, which is developing a vaccine for Ebola, and Queensland University in Australia, We are promoting vaccine development with a maximum of ¥ 1 billion in funding from the international framework for infectious disease control funded by such companies.

In addition, Beyler University in Texas, USA, is working with New York Blood Center and Fudan University in China to develop vaccines.

"Vaccine development is getting faster and faster, but we need to be sure of its efficacy and safety before we can use it in humans," said Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at Beira University. It will take at least a year. "