CORONAVIRUS THE NEW COMMON COLD ?

Almost about 6 months ago if someone used to visit a doctor with symptoms like headache, sneezing, fever, body weakness, postnasal drip, or running nose, it was dealt as something non-serious and just a common thing plus patient was sent home with tablets like paracetamol and cetirizine as well as advised bed rest.

They say time flies and waits for nobody, and see, here we all are, left out all the way scared, with the arrival of a new villain in the medical field named CORONAVIRUS aka covid 19.

HOW IT SPREADS?

THIS new villain aka THE CORONAVIRUS spreads mostly from the symptomatic person who is covid 19 positive. The infected person can spread it to you on a close contact of fewer than 2 metres as studies show through airborne droplets from cough or sneeze of the positive, from the contaminated surface with the virus and when you are kissing, hugging or making close intimate contact with the infected one.

There are studies that show that it can even spread from an asymptomatic positive person by the above-mentioned routes.

HOW CORONAVIRUS and COMMON COLD  are SIMILAR?

Firstly, Both are Viruses and both have similar disease presentations as they both cause the same respiratory illness ranging from varieties of symptoms with asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and severe.

Secondly, both the above are transmitted by contact, droplets, and surface contamination spread. As a result, the same public health measures, such as hand hygiene and good respiratory etiquette (coughing into your elbow or into a tissue and immediately disposing of the tissue), are important actions all can take to prevent infection.

How coronavirus is different from common cold (FLU) ?

1. SPEED OF TRANSMISSION-Influenza virus spreads faster than coronavirus with a shorter median incubation period (the time from infection to appearance of symptoms) and shorter median serial interval(the time between successive cases). The serial interval for the covid19 virus is 5-6 days and for influenza is 3-4 days.

2. AGE GROUP-Children are mostly the spreader of influenza virus infection more than coronavirus in the community. Initial data shows that coronavirus is less spread by age group 0-10 and even the infection is very mild or even asymptomatic.

3. SYMPTOMS-While the range of symptoms for the two viruses is similar, the fraction with severe disease appears to be different. For COVID-19, data to date suggest that 80% of infections are mild or asymptomatic, 15% are severe infections, requiring oxygen and 5% are critical infections, requiring ventilation. These fractions of severe and critical infection would be higher than what is observed for influenza infection. 

4. RISK FACTOR-Those most at risk for severe influenza infection are children, pregnant women, the elderly, those with underlying chronic medical conditions, and those who are immunosuppressed. For COVID-19, our current understanding is that older age and underlying conditions increase the risk for severe infection.

5. MORTALITY-Mortality for COVID-19 appears higher than for influenza, especially seasonal influenza. While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the data we have so far indicated that the crude mortality ratio (the number of reported deaths divided by the reported cases) is between 3-4%, the infection mortality rate (the number of reported deaths divided by the number of infections) will be lower. For seasonal influenza, mortality is usually well below 0.1%. However, mortality is to a large extent determined by access to and quality of health care. 

What medical interventions are available for COVID-19 and influenza viruses?
While there are a number of therapeutics currently in clinical trials in China and more than 20 vaccines in development for COVID-19, there are currently no licensed vaccines or therapeutics for COVID-19. In contrast, antivirals and vaccines are available for influenza. While the influenza vaccine is not effective against the COVID-19 virus, it is highly recommended to get vaccinated each year to prevent influenza infection. 

As a conclusion, It is advised to always consult your physician to come to any conclusion regarding the diagnosis and go for COVID 19 testing to rule out and get the needed treatment as early as possible.