Since its apparent first case in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the COVID-19 virus has been spreading around the world, infecting a significant number of individuals, whose symptoms can go from very mild ones to severe atypical pneumonia and multi-organ failure. Since its appearance, this disease has been declared a pandemic by the WHO and many countries have established strict rules and regulations, demanding preventive isolation to the whole population (1, 2, 3).
Produced by the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this disease is spread from an infected individual to a healthy, susceptible one via respiratory droplets while coughing and sneezing. Additionally, transmission through contaminated fomites is also a possibility.
Its incubation period, or the time from the exposure to the onset of symptoms, lasts between 2 and 14 days. Then, if the individual becomes symptomatic, the most common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, with other cases presenting fatigue, muscle or joint pain, sore throat, headaches, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, among others.
Young and healthy individuals normally present mild symptoms; however, complications may appear in older adults with other health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. In most complicated cases, patients need to be hospitalized and remain under strict medical observation. Although exact ciphers are not available, a wide number of patients have died due to the COVID-19 virus (2, 4, 5).
Because there is still no available vaccine and the multiple treatment options are purely experimental, the best thing to do is prevent its contagious. Some of the daily precautions include (6):
- Stock on supplies at home, but do not overdo it.
- Avoid contact with sick people, especially respiratory ones.
- Practice proper hand hygiene techniques.
- Avoid touching public surfaces.
- Avoid touching your face, nose, eyes, etc.
- Practice proper cleaning and disinfection techniques at home.
- Avoid crowds or public manifestations.
- All non-essential movements should be avoided.
- If possible, stay at home as much as possible.
- Consult with healthcare providers or valid websites for further information.
- Watch for symptoms and emergency warning signs.
It is mandatory to understand the severity of this disease and its great contagion capacity in order to prevent further spread and increase in cases rates, always remembering that misinformation and despair can be worse than the disease.
This is especially important for those individuals living in the countries that are slowly returning to their normal day-to-day lives because returning once again to self-isolation after viewing the positive cases spike up not only would be a major setback, but also a big punch directly to our freedom as human beings.