Coronavirus: caution, not alarm needed
Some people appear to suffer only mild illness while others have become extremely sick: travel clinic
WHILE the World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared the new coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, people should not be unduly alarmed by the development, particularly as no cases have been reported in South Africa, Netcare experts said.
Dr Pete Vincent of Netcare Travel Clinics and Medicross Tokai said the ongoing spread of the coronavirus across China and other parts of the world had raised global concern and left many South Africans wondering if they were at risk locally and how best they could keep themselves safe from possible infection.
The WHO indicates that most coronavirus cases have been reported in the Hubei province in China, where the outbreak started, and have been linked to a seafood, poultry and live wildlife market, the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, in the province’s Jianghan district.
To date a number of confirmed cases, of which the majority were “exported cases” with a travel history from the Chinese province, have been reported in countries around the world, including Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, India, the Philippines, the US, Germany, Italy, Finland and France.
“While human-to-human transmission of the virus has been reported, it would seem that animal-to-human transmission remains the primary mode for the spreading of the virus.
“However, the fact that some people appear to suffer only mild illness after infection, while others have become severely sick, has made it difficult for global health authorities to establish the exact extent to which the virus is being passed between people at this time, and even the true numbers of people who may have been infected,” Vincent said.
“In addition, there are concerns that the virus could become more contagious than it currently appears to be, and global and local health surveillance agencies, including the National Institute of Communicable
Diseases (NICD) and South African Department of Health should therefore remain vigilant,” he added.
Those who have fallen ill from the coronavirus reportedly suffer coughs, fever and breathing problems. The virus can cause severe respiratory difficulties, and lead to pneumonia, sepsis and even organ failure in severe cases.
As with other viral infections, antibiotics are not an effective means of treatment, and it appears that people who are in poor health are at greatest risk of complications from the infection. The WHO reports that the current estimates of the incubation period of the virus range from two to 10 days.
Vincent strongly recommended that everyone take precautions against contracting the illness and that nonessential travel to China be postponed at this time.
“Those who have recently travelled, or are planning to travel, to international destinations such as the Far East should be particularly vigilant. As in the case of other airborne infectious viruses such as influenza, avoiding contact with people showing symptoms and washing your hands frequently can go a long way towards protecting individuals from contracting an infection,” he said.
Netcare Group medical director Dr Anchen Laubscher said while there were as yet no patients with suspected or confirmed coronavirus in South Africa, the Netcare Group had taken the necessary steps to ensure its readiness.
“Netcare has developed a set of comprehensive clinical risk assessment pathways in consultation with the NICD. These are used routinely and diligently as a precautionary measure by our emergency medical personnel, doctors and hospital staff to assess any patient who may have been exposed to risk factors,” Laubscher said.