- There is way too much hype and misinformation
surrounding this novel coronavirus,
and I wanna talk about it on this week's Wednesday Check.
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Let me start off by thanking each and everyone of you
who sent me an email or message
convincing me to make this video.
I didn't need any convincing.
I just didn't wanna make this video too soon
because I didn't have enough information
to give you practical useful guides.
Even now there's still a lot that we don't know
but I'm gonna be talking about that throughout this video.
Let's start off with that term coronavirus.
There are many different types
of coronaviruses, different strains.
In fact the common cold that you and I get
can be caused by a coronavirus.
Now what's going on in Wuhan, China
is a novel coronavirus.
It's not the one that causes the common cold.
What makes it novel?
Well, that's because it's spread
from an animal carrier to a human.
The current thought is that
it either came from a bat or a snake.
And this can only happen if humans are in direct
close proximity with those animals.
First you have this animal
that's infected with this novel coronavirus.
It mutates, then enters a human cell,
starts replicating within the human body,
thereby infecting that individual
causing them to have symptoms.
What are the symptoms of this novel coronavirus?
The most common, fever,
next is cough, next is shortness of breath.
Just like the common cold or the flu,
this virus spreads in the same way,
through airborne particles, surface particles,
or even close contact with other humans
who are also infected.
I want you to know that all the information
I'm about to present to you here
comes directly from the CDC or the WHO
or the Department of Health.
Usually they all work in coordination together
but these are your main sources of information.
Please don't think that if you read someone's tweet
and it has been retweeted a lot,
it's an accurate source of information.
It is not.
Look for reputable organizations
to get your information from.
Also I'd like for you to keep in mind,
all the statistics and all the information
I'm giving you make sense right now.
They're up-to-date to this given moment
but all those things can change.
Tomorrow there's gonna be more individuals affected
than they are today.
We may learn something about the virus
that we didn't know today in a week.
So please keep in mind that this video
is being filmed on January 28th 2020.
I want you to keep this phrase in your head,
alert but not anxious.
This Wuhan virus or novel coronavirus
is really a potential threat
to us here in the United States
and is not a crisis yet by any means.
So again, alert, not anxious.
So let's talk about some of the stats that we know now.
Currently there's about 4,500 individuals infected
with the novel coronavirus throughout the world
with just over 100 deaths.
The majority of these,
the huge majority of these are in China.
In the US we have five total confirmed cases, zero deaths.
Internationally there are about 30 cases.
Again these numbers are gonna change quite rapidly.
This is just to give you a feeling
for what's going on in this moment right now.
Now you may be wondering to yourself,
is this a dangerous virus?
Well, the answer is it depends.
It can become severe in about 20% of cases
leading to pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome
leading to ventilation or even death in some circumstances.
For those of you who are living in the US,
this is certainly a potential threat
we should be on the lookout for.
With all the international travel
that goes on in the world today,
it's very easy to spread a virus
from one country to another.
That being said,
with only five cases here in the US
with zero deaths thus far,
this is not a crisis and not a reason to panic.
There's been many headlines in media
that are trying to scare you into panicking
'cause it urges you to click,
and when you click, they earn money.
Do not fall for this.
Look for reputable sources like CDC or WHO.
I'm gonna keep stating that over and over again.
There's still a lot of information
we don't know about this novel coronavirus,
how long it takes to spread,
what is the true incubation period,
meaning that you have the virus
but you don't show any symptoms yet.
Right now we're thinking it's a week to two weeks
but we're still figuring that out.
And then finally can you spread the virus
during that asymptomatic period
which would be really dangerous
because you can have individuals who are not sick
actually transmitting the virus across the world.
In fact when we had a similar outbreak like this
in the early 2000s with SARS,
the reason we were able to contain it
was that we were screening people to see
who had a fever, who was sick with this virus,
and we're able to contain and isolate those individuals.
But if this virus can be transmitted even when we're healthy
or at least seemingly healthy,
that can be quite dangerous.
We don't know the answer to that question yet.
When it comes to treatment for the coronavirus,
I'm sad to say there is no treatment.
It doesn't mean we can't do anything,
we can still give supportive care.
That means if you're dehydrated,
we can give you IV fluids.
That means if you have a very high fever,
we can give you antipyretics.
If you can't breathe on your own,
we can put you on a ventilator.
So there are certain things we can help you
in a supportive manner
but there's no direct treatment.
Because for example if you had a bacterial infection,
we can give you an antibiotic, that's a direct treatment.
There are some companies that are working on treatments
for this and are hoping to make progress very soon
but it's not gonna be done in the next few weeks.
Also the NIH did announce that they're working very quickly,
very quickly on a vaccine for this.
They're hoping to develop this
within the next few months
to have it ready for us
in case this truly becomes a worldwide pandemic.
Let's talk about what to do if you're worried
that you may have this novel coronavirus.
First of all, you would have to have been
exposed to someone in China,
like you had to be in the Wuhan area,
or have been in contact with someone from that area
within the last two weeks.
Otherwise it's highly, highly unlikely
that you have this virus.
But let's say you are still worried,
what's the first thing you should do?
Call your healthcare provider
before going to get care, why?
So they can prepare the waiting area
so that they can isolate it as best as possible,
take you to the proper protocols to make sure
that those who are susceptible are out of harm's way
because you don't wanna get people sick
if you truly do have this virus.
Next, they'll ask you a series of questions
to see if you meet the criteria for further testing.
If you do, they'll send out a sample
to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
That test takes about 24 to 48 hours to complete.
It's called the PCR test.
During that time
you'll stay in an isolation area in the hospital
which is usually a negative pressure room
to prevent the virus particles from escaping.
Again, whether you have the novel coronavirus,
the flu, or any other virus,
the treatment remains supportive care.
We're gonna do everything in our power
to make sure that your body's immune system
can fight off whatever virus
is affecting you in a given moment.
In fact what we're doing with all our patients
in the hospitals and primary care offices
is when someone comes in with symptoms
that mimic the novel coronavirus,
we do ask a thorough travel history,
if they've been to China,
do they have any friends or family
staying with them that came from China.
These are important questions that we need to ask.
In fact this screening protocol
has actually increased in the United States to 20 airports.
Here are some practical advise to keep you safe
from this novel coronavirus as in any other infections
that are out there in a given moment.
It is flu season after all
and the flu virus is also very dangerous.
Number one, stay alert but not anxious.
I've said it before, I'm saying it again
'cause I do not want you to panic.
Panic yields false alarms and that yields bad outcomes.
We don't want that in this case.
Two, do not travel to China or the Wuhan area
unless it's absolutely, absolutely mandatory.
Three, if you were in China within the last two weeks
and you're experiencing fever,
cough, or shortness of breath,
please contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible.
Four, make sure to wash your hands
frequently throughout the day.
That means 20 seconds with soap and water.
If that's not available,
you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer of course.
Five, do your best in avoiding
touching your mucus membranes.
That includes your eyes, nose, and your mouth.
These bad boys right here are the most common areas
for infected particles,
and then when you put them on your mucus membranes,
that's how they get in your body.
Six, if you're gonna cough or sneeze,
do it into a tissue and then throw that tissue out.
Seven, clean high traffic areas.
If you're gonna be using a public workspace,
wipe it down first.
It's a simple rule of thumb
that I like to recommend to all of my patients.
Eight, do your best to avoid contact
with those who are sick.
If you see someone coughing or sneezing,
do your best to keep at least six feet in between you.
That's generally how far
sneeze and cough particles can travel.
Nine, if you're sick, please stay home.
It doesn't matter if you have the flu or the common cold,
by staying home, you're decreasing the spread of that virus,
you're decreasing viral load,
you're making the community safer by staying home.
I know we all wanna be more productive and get to work,
but you're not gonna do great work when you're already sick.
A lot of folks have been asking me questions
about wearing surgical masks in public,
whether or not that's beneficial.
There can be some benefit there
but there could also be some harm
because when you're taking the mask off,
if you get some of the germs on your hands,
then you shake hands with somebody,
now you're spreading that virus further.
So there's kind of pros and cons in both directions.
The CDC is not making this general recommendation
that everyone in a public place should wear this mask.
And I think we should stick to that advise.
If we don't need to wear them, don't,
because the masks that we wear
in the healthcare environment are N95 masks.
These are fit-tested masks.
They have a very specific method of working.
And the regular surgical masks
that you see people using,
the disposable ones,
those don't offer a huge amount of protection.
Just remember because this is a developing situation,
details are gonna change,
that's why I'm gonna link really good quality sources
from the CDC and the NIH down below.
Click on those for further reading.
If you have any questions or comments,
leave them down below.
I'm gonna do my best to stay as active as possible
in the comments sections answering your questions
in case this situation changes or develops further.
Here's a good playlist if you like to learn
more about some really cool medical cases.
And as always, you're gonna stay happy and healthy
when you click on one of these.
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