WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) GUIDELINES ON CORONA VIRUS (COVID 19) FOR THE PUBLIC

virus,pandemic,coronavirus,covid-19
Medical Tutors
May 1, 2020

12:49 AM

Summary
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.

Use of Masks: When and How To Wear Medical Masks to Protect Against Coronavirus

  • When to Wear Mask

 If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected Covid 19 infection.

  1. Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
  2. Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  3. If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
  • The Current Situation in Nigeria

 Evidence of community transmission is now overwhelming

  1. Although social distancing and scrupulous hand-washing as well as lock down and prohibition of large gatherings are apparently effective, social distancing cannot be guaranteed in the market, supermarket and other essential places. It is therefore important that everybody wears a mask so that asymptomatic people with COVID - 19 who are not aware that they have the virus do not transmit it to others.
  2. Wearing a mask is a supplement and not a replacement for the social distancing, scrupulous hand hygiene and other infection control measures.
  • How to Wear Mask 
  1. Before putting on a mask, clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  2. Cover mouth and nose with mask and make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
  3. Avoid touching the mask while using it; if you do, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
  4. Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp and do not re-use single-use masks.
  5. To remove the mask: remove it from behind (do not touch the front of mask); discard immediately in a closed bin; clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

MYTHS AND REALITY IN COVID-19

5G Mobile Networks DO NOT Spread COVID-19

  • Viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks.COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not have 5G mobile networks. COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose

Exposing Yourself to the Sun or To Temperatures Higher Than 25C Degrees Does Not Prevent the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

  • You can catch COVID-19, no matter how sunny or hot the weather is. Countries with hot weather have reported cases of COVID-19. To protect yourself, make sure you clean your hands frequently and thoroughly and avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.  

You Can Recover From The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Catching The New Coronavirus DOES NOT Mean You Will Have It For Life.

  • Most of the people who catch COVID-19 can recover and eliminate the virus from their bodies. If you catch the disease, make sure you treat your symptoms. If you have cough, fever, and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early – but call your health facility by telephone first. Most patients recover thanks to supportive care.

Being able to hold your breath for 10 seconds or more without coughing or feeling discomfort DOES NOT mean you are free from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or any other lung disease.

  • The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are dry cough, tiredness and fever. Some people may develop more severe forms of the disease, such as pneumonia. The best way to confirm if you have the virus producing COVID-19 disease is with a laboratory test.  You cannot confirm it with this breathing exercise, which can even be dangerous

Drinking Alcohol Does Not Protect You against COVID-19 and Can Be Dangerous

  • Frequent or excessive alcohol consumption can increase your risk of health problems. 

COVID-19 Virus Can Be Transmitted In Areas with Hot and Humid Climates

  • From the evidence so far, the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted in ALL AREAS, including areas with hot and humid weather. Regardless of climate, adopt protective measures if you live in, or travel to an area reporting COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 is by frequently cleaning your hands. By doing this you eliminate viruses that may be on your hands and avoid infection that could occur by then touching your eyes, mouth, and nose

Cold Weather And Snow Cannot Kill The New Coronavirus.

  • There is no reason to believe that cold weather can kill the new coronavirus or other diseases. The normal human body temperature remains around 36.5°C to 37°C, regardless of the external temperature or weather. The most effective way to protect yourself against the new coronavirus is by frequently cleaning your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or washing them with soap and water.

Taking a Hot Bath Does Not Prevent the New Coronavirus Disease

  • Taking a hot bath will not prevent you from catching COVID-19. Your normal body temperature remains around 36.5°C to 37°C, regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower. Actually, taking a hot bath with extremely hot water can be harmful, as it can burn you. The best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 is by frequently cleaning your hands. By doing this you eliminate viruses that may be on your hands and avoid infection that could occur by then touching your eyes, mouth, and nose.

The New Coronavirus CANNOT Be Transmitted Through Mosquito Bites.

  • To date there has been no information or evidence to suggest that the new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes. The new coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose. To protect yourself, clean your hands frequently with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Also, avoid close contact with anyone who is coughing and sneezing.

Are Hand Dryers Effective In Killing The New Coronavirus?

  • Hand dryers are not effective in killing the 2019-nCoV. To protect yourself against the new coronavirus, you should frequently clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Once your hands are cleaned, you should dry them thoroughly by using paper towels or a warm air dryer

Can An Ultraviolet Disinfection Lamp Kill The New Coronavirus?

  • UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.

How Effective Are Thermal Scanners In Detecting People Infected With The New Coronavirus?

  • Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus. However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever. This is because it takes between 2 and 10 days before people who are infected become sick and develop a fever

Can Spraying Alcohol Or Chlorine All Over Your Body Kill The New Coronavirus?

  • Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. Spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth). Be aware that both alcohol and chlorine can be useful to disinfect surfaces, but they need to be used under appropriate recommendations.

Do Vaccines Against Pneumonia Protect You Against The New Coronavirus?

  • Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus. The virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against 2019-nCoV, and WHO is supporting their efforts. Although these vaccines are not effective against 2019-nCoV, vaccination against respiratory illnesses is highly recommended to protect your health

Can Regularly Rinsing Your Nose With Saline Help Prevent Infection With The New Coronavirus?

  • There is no evidence that regularly rinsing the nose with saline has protected people from infection with the new coronavirus.  There is some limited evidence that regularly rinsing nose with saline can help people recover more quickly from the common cold. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent respiratory infections.

Can Eating Garlic Help Prevent Infection With The New Coronavirus?

  • Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.

Does The New Coronavirus Affect Older People, Or Are Younger People Also Susceptible?

  • People of all ages can be infected by the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease) appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus.  WHO advises people of all ages to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene

Are Antibiotics Effective In Preventing And Treating The New Coronavirus?

  • No, antibiotics do not work against viruses, only bacteria. The new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a virus and, therefore, antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment. However, if you are hospitalized for the 2019-nCoV, you may receive antibiotics because bacterial co-infection is possible.

Are There Any Specific Medicines To Prevent Or Treat The New Coronavirus?

  • To date, there is no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). However, those infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms, and those with severe illness should receive optimized supportive care. Some specific treatments are under investigation, and will be tested through clinical trials. WHO is helping to accelerate research and development efforts with a range or partners

Does Being Infected With COVID-19 Make You Immune? 

  • We will need to do long-term studies in humans to find out if people who recover from COVID-19 are immune and to learn how long that immunity will last. But again, based on what we know about how our bodies respond to other viruses, it is highly likely that the antibodies we make after infection with the COVID-19 virus will provide immunity for a period of time.
  • Chinese scientists have conducted some early research with rhesus monkeys and found that antibodies after recovery from COVID-19 protected the monkeys from becoming reinfected after another exposure to the virus. After the SARS outbreak, one study showed antibodies lasted for up to 3 years. Studies from Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS), another infection caused by a coronavirus, have shown that antibodies can be found in the body for about a year.
  • The level and time period of immunity can also depend on how an individual’s immune system responds, so there is a lot more we still need to learn about immunity after COVID-19 infection.

Can You Get Reinfected After Recovering From COVID-19?

  • Some reports have started to emerge about people who have recovered from COVID-19, but later tested positive for the virus again.
  • Several reports from China have described cases of people with mild symptoms continuing to test positive for the virus, even after recovery. A small study of Chinese healthcare workers also described findings where people continued to test positive even after they had recovered. The study found that these individuals no longer had symptoms and that they didn’t go on to infect their family members. Very recently, the Korean Centers for Disease Control also reported dozens of people that tested positive after recovery. 
  • Two cases outside of China are even more puzzling: people who had seemingly recovered and tested negative, then weeks later, began to have symptoms again and were found to be positive when re-tested.  
  • According to experts, these scenarios require further study, but are unlikely to reflect reinfection. A positive test after recovery could be detecting left over virus that may still be present but is not causing infection. For those people who became positive after recovery, it may be that the infection was lingering in their bodies at lower levels and then re-emerged. Or it could mean that prior negative test were false negative (the swab may not have captured viral particles during the testing process).
  • Research will continue to look at this question, but from what we know about our body’s ability to fight of viruses, it is highly unlikely that a person that has recovered from COVID-19 and made antibodies will become reinfected in such a short period of time.

COVID-19 VACCINE

  • As the new coronavirus continues to spread, people around the world are anxious to know when we might have a vaccine to stop it.

What Would A COVID-19 Vaccine Do?

  • When you come into contact with a virus or bacteria, your body’s immune system makes antibodies to fight them off.
  • A vaccine forces your immune system to make antibodies against a specific disease, usually with a dead or weakened form of the germs. Then, if you come into contact with them again, your immune system knows what to do. The vaccine gives you immunity, so you don’t get sick or so your illness is much milder than it otherwise would have been.
  • A vaccine against COVID-19 would slow its spread around the world. Fewer people would get sick, and more lives could be saved.

How Are Vaccines Developed?

  • So how long could a COVID-19 vaccine take? Dozens of possible vaccines are in various stages of development around the world, according to the World Health Organization. Some have begun clinical trials. But certain things can’t be rushed, like how long it takes a person’s immune system to respond to a vaccine or the wait to check for side effects.
  • Even when researchers find a vaccine that works against the new coronavirus, it could be 12 to 18 months at best before it’s ready for the public. That’s only a fraction of the usual time.
  • Before any vaccine can be used widely, it must go through development and testing to make sure that it’s effective against the virus or bacteria and that it doesn’t cause other problems. The stages of development generally follow this timeline:
  • Exploratory Stage. This is the start of lab research to find something that can treat or prevent a disease. It often lasts 2 to 4 years.
  • Pre-clinical Stage. Scientists use lab tests and testing in animals, such as mice or monkeys, to learn whether a vaccine might work. This stage usually lasts 1 to 2 years. Many potential vaccines don’t make it past this point. But if the tests are successful and the FDA signs off, it’s on to clinical testing.
  • Clinical Development. This is a three-phase process of testing in humans. Phase I usually last 1 to 2 years and involves fewer than 100 people. Phase II takes at least 2 years and includes several hundred people. Phase III lasts 3 or 4 years and involves thousands of people. Overall, the clinical trial process may stretch to 15 years or more. About a third of vaccines make it from phase I to final approval.
  • Regulatory Review and Approval. Scientists with the FDA and CDC go over the data from the clinical trials and sign off.
  • Manufacturing. The vaccine goes into production. The FDA inspects the factory and approves drug labels.
  • Quality Control. Scientists and government agencies keep tabs on the drug-making process and on people who get the vaccine. They want to make sure it keeps working safely.

Coronavirus Vaccine Progress

  • This version of the coronavirus only surfaced in late 2019, but scientists have gotten a boost from research on similar coronaviruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Efforts to fight those diseases played a large role in the record speed of the first COVID-19 vaccine trial that’s now underway.
  • Some of the companies working on vaccines are also looking for ways to ramp up production quickly when the clinical trials find one that works safely. With more than 300 million people in the United States alone, mass vaccination will be a joint effort among several companies and government agencies.
  • Experts say the coronavirus could turn out to be seasonal, like colds and the flu. A vaccine might not be ready until after the current pandemic is over, but it may be vital if the cycle begins again.

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