The Corona Virus: What to be concerned about (and not)
Feb 25, 2020 13:52:19 GMT -8
lebaneaver likes this
Post by mbabeav on Feb 25, 2020 13:52:19 GMT -8
The Coronavirus is not something most people need to be concerned about as much as it seems, even as the reporting on it is disrupting the entire world's economy and travel plans. To whit:
The death toll from the coronavirus is now more than 2,700 worldwide, with the vast majority in mainland China. There has been more than 80,000 global cases.
Meanwhile in the US alone, the common flu season has sickened at least 19 million across the U.S. and led to 10,000 deaths and 180,000 hospitalizations. And the flu has a vaccine that is usually ~70% effective at preventing the illness, and those who get the flu usually have a weaker form of the illness if they have been vaccinated. But not everyone gets the vaccine.
The people that track illnesses usually have a very good idea of the number of flu cases, even though most flu cases never see the doctor's office to be "officially" tabulated. We have no idea how many actual cases of the coronavirus there have been because like most viruses of this nature, the average person's symptoms are not severe enough to warrant finding out exactly what virus is causing the symptoms.
But like the flu virus, most of the people who are impacted severely by the coronavirus are people who have weakened immune systems and/or are elderly.
One unusual aspect of the coronavirus that is a positive is that it doesn't seem to have a severe impact on children. Why, they don't know.
So the panic ongoing is questionable, but people need to follow some basic, common sense, procedures:
1. If you get sick, stay home!
2. Wash your hands frequently
3. Get your flu vaccine; remove the biggest risk out there otherwise.
This is information gathered by a non-infectious disease neophyte; if there is anyone out there in the medical community who would like to correct and/or augment this initial analysis, please add your input.
The death toll from the coronavirus is now more than 2,700 worldwide, with the vast majority in mainland China. There has been more than 80,000 global cases.
Meanwhile in the US alone, the common flu season has sickened at least 19 million across the U.S. and led to 10,000 deaths and 180,000 hospitalizations. And the flu has a vaccine that is usually ~70% effective at preventing the illness, and those who get the flu usually have a weaker form of the illness if they have been vaccinated. But not everyone gets the vaccine.
The people that track illnesses usually have a very good idea of the number of flu cases, even though most flu cases never see the doctor's office to be "officially" tabulated. We have no idea how many actual cases of the coronavirus there have been because like most viruses of this nature, the average person's symptoms are not severe enough to warrant finding out exactly what virus is causing the symptoms.
But like the flu virus, most of the people who are impacted severely by the coronavirus are people who have weakened immune systems and/or are elderly.
One unusual aspect of the coronavirus that is a positive is that it doesn't seem to have a severe impact on children. Why, they don't know.
So the panic ongoing is questionable, but people need to follow some basic, common sense, procedures:
1. If you get sick, stay home!
2. Wash your hands frequently
3. Get your flu vaccine; remove the biggest risk out there otherwise.
This is information gathered by a non-infectious disease neophyte; if there is anyone out there in the medical community who would like to correct and/or augment this initial analysis, please add your input.
