- Hi everybody, I am Dr. Seema Yasmin.
I'm an expert in epidemics.
The spread of disease
and the spread of misinformation about disease.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be responding directly
to your questions as you send them to me.
But right now, what I want to do
is go through the 50 most Googled questions
about coronavirus asked this week.
Starting from 50 and working down to one.
[upbeat tech music]
Question 50, will coronavirus mutate?
So, right off the bat,
we're talking about the new coronavirus.
It's real name SARS-CoV-2 and it's part of this family
of viruses called Coronaviruses.
And yes, like every virus, this novel Coronavirus
does mutate, even though it has mutated, it doesn't seem
to have mutated in a way
that makes any meaningful difference to the way it spreads
or causes disease in humans.
Are symptoms sudden?
So they could be sudden onset, but we see that more
with the influenza virus.
It looks like we've COVID-19, symptoms can be more gradual.
Does coronavirus affect animals?
So yes, it can and it looks like this Coronavirus
may have originated in a bat, gone to another animal
and then arrived in humans.
Does Coronavirus kill healthy people?
Yes, it can and that's why we're making this point
about social distancing.
The higher death rates are in older people
and in people with pre-existing conditions
and a suppressed immune system.
Can I get infected with the new Coronavirus
if I'm wearing a mask?
Yes, but it does greatly reduce your chance
of getting infected.
The point here though, is that because we have
this massive shortage of masks, we're encouraging people not
to wear them unless they really need them.
Meaning they have symptoms or they're near somebody
who has symptoms because we want to conserve
as many masks as possible for our first responders
and healthcare workers.
When will a vaccine come?
Right now, we're seeing the beginnings
of phase one clinical trial and the phase one
is where you're testing in only healthy volunteers
and a very small group of them.
From that point, it's then at least 18 months,
if not many years before you have a vaccine
that both works and can be scaled up.
Do Corona virus symptoms come and go?
From the time somebody gets infected,
it takes on average about five days for them
to show symptoms, but it could be as early as two days
or as long as 14 days.
Once somebody is sick, it can be anywhere from around two
to six weeks that they continue to have these symptoms.
Why is it named Coronavirus?
When you look at it under an electron microscope,
you see this.
The virus is studded with the spike proteins
and they give it the appearance of having a halo or a crown
and Corona happens to be the Latin word for crown.
Did Coronavirus slowdown in China?
Yes, the virus seems to have reached a peak
on the epidemic curve and then cases started to decline.
When was Coronavirus discovered?
So, it was back in December, around December 26th
that a Chinese physician noticed an unusual pneumonia
and then it was on January 7th
that the new virus was identified.
Will coronavirus go away in the summer?
It's unlikely and especially here in the states.
Will Coronavirus affect the stock market?
Yes, we've already seen that happen.
Why is Coronavirus called novel?
Novel just means new.
Has Coronavirus been around before?
That family of Coronaviruses has been around
for a very long time.
Four of them are what cause the common cold in us,
but this particular one, SARS-CoV-2, is brand-new.
Does coronavirus need isolation?
When somebody has symptoms, we know they're contagious,
we want to keep them away from others
to prevent the spread of disease.
What are Coronavirus symptoms?
It causes fever, cough, shortness of breath
and it can cause very severe pneumonias
and potentially even death.
Will Coronavirus go away?
Probably not totally.
Look at what happened with H1N1 flu in 2009.
It caused a pandemic that year
and now it's a commonly circulating flu.
It's likely we'll see the same thing
with this novel Coronavirus.
Did Coronavirus come from snakes?
It's highly unlikely.
Why did the coronavirus start in China?
China is a country of more than 1.3 billion people.
The chances of something starting there or just higher
than starting in a smaller country and increasingly,
all of us humans are living in closer proximity to animals.
So this happened in China, but it could have happened
in many places.
Can Coronavirus spread through water?
So no, there's no evidence right now
that the virus can spread through water.
Will Coronavirus and the world?
No, let's all take a collective, deep breath.
I know it feels like the end of the world,
but it isn't.
Is Coronavirus in Mexico?
Yes, it has spread there.
Can Coronavirus spread through clothes?
Yes, it looks like the virus can survive on fabrics.
Which Coronavirus is in China?
I think this question is asking about the new Coronavirus,
called SARS-CoV-2.
Can the Coronavirus be stopped?
Yes, it can eventually with isolating people who are sick,
practicing social distancing while the pandemic is
at its peak
and also developing antiviral treatments and vaccines.
Can the Coronavirus live on surfaces?
Yes, we think it can survive on surfaces.
Anywhere from a few hours to a few days,
but it depends on the exact type of surface
and on the environmental conditions.
Was Coronavirus engineered?
No, it wasn't.
Where is the Coronavirus in the US?
It's been detected in all 50 states.
Can Coronavirus spread through food?
So right now, there's only evidence of this virus spreading
from one person to another.
There isn't evidence of people contracting the infection
from touching a contaminated surface,
but that's theoretically possible
and that could include food as well.
Can Coronavirus spread through mail?
Now that we know it can potentially survive from a few hours
to a few days on a variety of surfaces,
it is a possibility that mail could be contaminated.
Why is Coronavirus deadly?
It's deadly because it attaches to receptors on the surface
of our cells in our lungs and our respiratory tract
and it can cause a very severe pneumonia.
That then causes lung failure
and then we can also see multi-organ dysfunction as well.
Did the new Coronavirus come from bats?
What we think the moment is that this new virus came
to us from bats who infected an intermediate animal
and then that animal may have infected humans.
Why is the new Coronavirus dangerous?
It's dangerous because
it causes a respiratory tract infection.
It's also dangerous because this is the first time humans
have been exposed to this virus
and it means we have no pre-existing immunity to it.
How did the new Coronavirus spread in China?
So as I mentioned, we think that
this new virus originated in bats.
Is Coronavirus worse than the flu?
I'm getting asked this question so much.
I think people are wondering, well, flu kills tens
of thousands of Americans every year.
Why are we so worried about this new virus?
Here's why I'm worried.
It looks like the death rate from the new Coronavirus
is that least 10 times higher than the death rate
from seasonal flu.
Does Coronavirus go away?
So I already answered that.
Has Coronavirus reached India?
Yes sadly, it has.
We've been seeing cases that have reported
since the end of January.
Is Coronavirus a pandemic?
Yes.
Is Coronavirus new?
Yes.
Can Coronavirus in dogs spread to humans?
There's one case of a dog infected
with this new Coronavirus.
It didn't show any signs of disease and there's no evidence
of transmission from a dog to a human.
How does coronavirus work?
The virus enters the respiratory tract, through the nose,
the eyes or the mouth and then
it takes over our cells own machinery to its own ends
to make more copies of the virus.
Is Coronavirus man-made?
No, it is not.
Is Coronavirus in the US?
Yes, it is definitely here.
Can Coronavirus be treated?
Sadly, there's no specific antiviral treatment
just for this Coronavirus, but what we do as doctors
is treat the symptoms.
Is Coronavirus fatal?
Yes, sadly this new Coronavirus can cause death.
Particularly in people who are older,
have a compromised immune system
or have a pre-existing health conditions
such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease,
things like that.
It's Coronavirus curable?
No, we don't have a specific treatment
for this new Coronavirus.
Is Coronavirus airborne?
This one is so tricky
because there's no universal definition of exactly
what airborne means.
When a person who's infected
with the new Coronavirus coughs or sneezes,
they dispersed droplets from their respiratory tract
and those droplets can be full of virus.
They're said to travel about three to six feet.
Now, compare that to somebody who has measles
and sneezes, the virus then clings to particles
that hang in the air.
Those are much smaller particles compared to droplets,
they can travel further and they can just stay suspended
in the air for a lot longer.
Now, I will say this is a new virus.
Right now, what we're saying
is that there's a droplet transmission.
We're not calling it airborne.
How did coronavirus start?
So this new Coronavirus,
as I've mentioned a few times, probably originated in bats.
Went from bats to an intermediate host,
some other animal and then from that animal to humans.
How does Coronavirus spread?
So like I just mentioned, with those droplets,
what we understand is that infected person coughs
or sneezes and those virus are laid in droplets
can land on the person,
make their way into the person's respiratory tract
and that's how it spreads.
It could also spread through inanimate surfaces.
May be an elevator button or door handle,
but that's still being studied.
Right now, the evidence is a person to person spread.
Is Coronavirus deadly?
That's a number one question and the answer is yes.
Worldwide, this new Coronavirus has killed more
than 6,000 people as of March 17th, 2020.
So those are the most Googled questions as of this week.
I do think there's a lot of power and information
and a lot of comfort in dialogue.
So if you have any questions at all, please put them here
in the comments.
Reach me on social media and I'll be back here
in the Wired Channel,
responding to your questions and concerns.