How Is Coronavirus Different From Influenza, And How To Stop Panicking?

How is coronavirus different from influenza, and how to stop panicking?

In recent days, we have all learned much more about the coronavirus than about the life of our closest neighbors and even, perhaps, about the life of our own children. Opinions, terms and rumors are becoming more and more every day. Data overload is overwhelming and often anxiety-provoking. Someone says that the coronavirus is no worse than the flu, while others consider it a new plague. Let's figure out the question.

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How is coronavirus different from influenza or SARS

The main difference is how the virus behaves in the human body. SARS-Cov-2 (as scientists called the new coronavirus) enters the cell through special ACE-2 receptors. Moreover, more often it first binds to the epithelial cells of the lungs and affects the lower respiratory tract. This affects the symptoms and the development of complications. Runny nose or sneezing is not typical for COVID-19, but fever and coughing are common. In addition, shortness of breath may appear, which does not happen with ARVI and flu. It takes about five days for cornavirus symptoms to develop, and two days for flu. This potentially gives people more time for the disease to spread asymptomatically before they know they are sick.

In this table, you can see the clear difference between the symptoms of coronavirus, SARS and flu.

What's more contagious: flu vs coronavirus

The incubation period is the time between infection and the onset of symptoms. For

flu, it is 1-4 days, and for coronavirus, 1-14 days. This means that the flu is detected faster. This allows you to quickly diagnose the disease and isolate the patient, which means reducing the spread of infection.

Specialists compare infectiousness in terms of R0. He says how many people on average will be infected by one carrier of the virus. Influenza R0 has 1-2 people, while coronavirus has 3-5 people. Let us console you - the coronavirus is not the most contagious among viruses. For example, R0 measles is 12-18 people. But the fact remains: the coronavirus is almost twice as contagious as the flu.

How long is the coronavirus active and how to kill it?

The coronavirus dies at a temperature of +56 ° C in 10 minutes. Alcohol and chlorhexidine destroy the coronavirus in 2 minutes. All popular sanitizing gels (based on more than 60% alcohol) kill the coronavirus within 30 seconds.

Quartzization of premises also copes well with coronavirus. The time depends on the power of the lamp, but on average it is sufficient to expose the room to ultraviolet radiation for about 15 minutes. But it should be understood that this method is dangerous for humans, so it is not necessary to sterilize your hands in this way (or, in principle, it is in the room when quartzing). Ultraviolet lamps can irritate the skin, burn the retina and even provoke cancer.

Which hygiene and quarantine measures are effective and which are redundant?

It is known for sure that the coronavirus is spread by airborne droplets. A sick person passes it on by coughing or sneezing. Sputum particles can not only enter a living organism immediately, but also remain on surfaces for some time. This means that if the patient sneezed into his hand, and then touched the door handle, you can transfer the coronavirus into your hands. If you rub your eyes or nose with sweat, you can catch the infection.

What does this mean for you?

It is worth giving up kissing and shaking hands when meeting with friends. If you are sick and have to communicate with people, put on a mask. You can do this when visiting any crowded places - you can be a hidden carrier and transmit the virus even without any special symptoms. On the street, it is enough to keep a distance from passers-by, since the virus does not spread through sputum further than 1.5-2 meters.

You do not need to buy immunomodulators or dietary supplements that promise to support the body's defenses. These funds have no proven effectiveness, which means you will be wasting money.

There is little scientific research on whether garlic protects against coronavirus, vampires and succubi. But the World Health Organization does not consider it a cure for COVID-19. Rinsing your nose with saline will also not help prevent this virus. You do not need to torment healthy children with multiple injections and injections: it does not matter whether the saline solution is home or pharmaceutical production. This is a means of imaginary complacency, which in reality will only wear you and your loved ones.

Don't try to turn your house or your body into a sterile box. Regular ventilation and wet cleaning are sufficient for the premises.

Frequent hot baths, spraying the whole body with alcohol or chlorhexidine will not help fight the virus, but can cause discomfort, harm to health and skin. It is enough not to touch your nose, eyes and mouth with dirty hands. And most importantly, wash your hands more often with soap (at least 20 seconds) or use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol in the composition.

Endless washing or boiling of things is not a good way. Most experts, and WHO shares this point of view, talk about the low resistance of the coronavirus in the external environment. Most likely, he is able to live no more than a few hours outside of his host. Therefore, your jeans and jacket do not deserve daily torture, and the additional burden of housework will only exhaust you physically and mentally. Of course, it is worth changing street clothes for home clothes, but in a few hours viruses in street clothes (if any) are inactivated on their own.

Pets and insects are not carriers of the coronavirus. Do not look at pets with suspicion or be afraid of the imminent mosquito season.

Not unpacking, throwing away or not picking up parcels from aliexpress is a panic and unnecessary measure. Imagine that somewhere in China, a carrier of a coronavirus coughed up a purchase, which was then hermetically packed in a parcel - the virus will live even in these very favorable conditions for a maximum of two days.

Parcels from China take much longer.

And, of course, the main quarantine question is who is right. Those who store food? Or those who go to stores every day, as if ignoring the conditions of quarantine?

The essence of quarantine is to reduce the number of new cases of the disease and stop the epidemic. At the same time, it is quite obvious that people live in different conditions. Some were transferred to remote work, others are forced to continue to personally visit the workplace. Someone has the financial and territorial opportunity to buy stocks for future use and equip a mini-warehouse at home, while others are deprived of this opportunity. There is no general recipe for everyone.

You should act based on your circumstances and capabilities. Total interruptions in food supply are not waiting for us. All retailers unanimously claim that although stores are emptying faster due to bulk purchases, the warehouses are full of goods. The shelves are regularly replenished and will continue to grow. Those people who bought cereals and canned food for a month in advance did not leave without food those who do not have the desire or ability to stock up. But the "thrifty" have reduced the frequency of visiting stores, observing the conditions of quarantine as much as possible. Thanks to them, the places of mass visits have become deserted. This strategy is hardly condemnable. Just as those who are forced to go to work, ride the subway or regularly go shopping do not deserve aggressive attacks.

We will try to wash our hands more often and not sneeze at each other. Be healthy!