Tag
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a family of hundreds of viruses that cause fever, respiratory problems, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms. The 2019 novel coronavirus is one of 7 members of this family known to infect humans, and the third in the past three decades to jump from animals to humans. Since the outbreak in China in November 2019, this new coronavirus has caused a global sanitary emergency.
COVID-19 is short for COronaVIrus Disease 2019. It is a disease that affects the airways and the lungs. The coronavirus infection can cause symptoms similar to flu or pneumonia, such as anosmia (change or loss in the normal sense of smell), feeling short of breath, dry coughing repeatedly, sore throats, headaches and high temperature.
The virus has a 3- to 14-day incubation period, and it´s transmitted in droplets from sneezing or coughing, which means people could be infectious for quite a while before symptoms like fever emerge.
For most people the symptoms are mild but a considerable minority will develop severe breathing problems and other complications. The evidence so far shows that the risk of severe symptoms is higher in people with weakened immune systems, older people and people with long-term conditions.
coronavirus news san diego
Coronaviruses get their name from their spiky structure. Like other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 is spherical with spike proteins that look a bit like a crown (“corona” in latin).
The virus lives longer on surfaces. Disinfectants that are at least 60 percent alcohol by volume can also kill the virus. The coronavirus lives 72 hours in stainless steal and plastic, 25 hours on cardboard and around 4 hours in copper.
