Coronavirus Prevention Is Largely the Same as Flu Prevention - TIME

Coronavirus Prevention Is Largely the Same as Flu Prevention - TIME

Coronavirus Prevention Is Largely the Same as Flu Prevention - TIME

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 11:06 AM PST

Many Americans likely grew a little nervous after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that a novel coronavirus has spread for the first time within the U.S. But agency officials and other doctors have a simple message for Americans: keep doing what you're doing to stay healthy.

"The best things that you can do are the things that we generally recommend at this time of year to prevent the spread of infectious diseases," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a Jan. 30 call with reporters. "Wash your hands, cover your cough, take care of yourself and keep alert to the information that we're providing, because we'll provide new information as it becomes available."

In Asia, the novel coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV is spreading rapidly, and has reached far enough to warrant being designated a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. As of noon Friday, it has infected nearly 10,000 people, most of them in mainland China, and killed 213. But public health officials have emphasized that risk to the American public remains low, and spreading within the U.S. has so far been limited to one wife-to-husband transmission.

Related Stories

While 2019-nCoV has never been seen before, it's part of a family of viruses that are well-known both to doctors and the public; the common cold, for example, can be caused by certain coronaviruses. And while influenza is not a coronavirus, it isn't so different from 2019-nCoV, either. Both result in symptoms including cough and fever, and—from what scientists can tell so far—both seem to be spread mainly via respiratory droplets and close person-to-person contact.

For those reasons, experts are recommending prevention measures in keeping with those deployed during a normal flu season. The CDC has not recommended that Americans wear protective masks or take dramatic measures against coronavirus. Messonnier did emphasize during Thursday's call that people who have been in Wuhan, China—where the outbreak originated—or spent time around people who have traveled from the area should monitor themselves for symptoms of coronavirus, such as cough, fever and respiratory distress. These people should call their health care provider and stay home from work or school if any symptoms develop.

Aside from that, though, there's not much Americans can or should do at this point, beyond the usual measures.

"Good hand-washing helps. Staying healthy and eating healthy will also help," says Dr. Sharon Nachman, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at New York's Stony Brook Children's Hospital. "The things we take for granted actually do work. It doesn't matter what the virus is. The routine things work."

And while the flu shot won't protect against coronavirus—and there's no vaccine for the new virus yet—experts are still recommending that people get vaccinated against influenza if they haven't yet, since the likelihood of getting the flu in the U.S. is far higher than contracting coronavirus. (For context, the CDC estimates that around 19 million Americans have gotten the flu so far this season, compared to only a handful who have developed coronavirus domestically.) As long as flu virus is still circulating, it's not too late to get a flu shot.

Most Popular on TIME

Write to Jamie Ducharme at jamie.ducharme@time.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

His Apple Watch warned of an irregular heart rate. Turns out he was having a heart attack | Globalnews.ca - Global News Toronto

Image
A Nova Scotia man is thanking a digital watch for saving his life. Travis Chalmers, of Elmsdale, N.S., said he was outside playing road hockey with his son when he suddenly experienced a "warm sensation" in his chest area and a splitting headache. "I just thought it was a flu or cold coming on and my seasonal allergies had been kicking in. I thought it was flu-like symptoms and shrugged it off," he said. But to Chalmers' surprise, an otherwise laidback afternoon eventually took a scary turn when he glanced at his wrist. A notification from his Apple Watch led him to discover he was experiencing a heart attack. "About a half hour later, I'm laying down with my daughter and my heart rate is still beating out of my chest," he continued, adding that he monitored his heart rate on his Apple Watch for the next few hours. The watch indicated that he was experiencing atrial fibrillation, a rapid heart rhythm that can increase the ris...
Read more

“Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune” plus 1 more

Image
“Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune” plus 1 more Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune Posted: 31 Oct 2020 04:20 PM PDT Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of a three-part series looking into the opioid epidemic across the U.S., rehabilitation options in Weld County and stories from people who have overcome or are currently fighting addiction to opioids. Like many things, there's another side to the opioid crisis. While the addiction to opioids is a problem that needs to be addressed, people who are using the drugs exclusively as prescribed — and who still truly need it from a medical perspective — have been swept up in what some have seen as government's knee-jerk reaction to the crisis. In having their ability limited to get the drugs they need in order to function, many of these patients are left suffering debilitating pain. Richard Mark VanWormer w...
Read more

“A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times” plus 1 more

Image
“A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times” plus 1 more A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times Posted: 12 Dec 2019 11:25 AM PST It was chest pain that brought the 34-year-old woman to the emergency room at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She'd been coughing for days, but that morning the pain was so bad she was worried that it had turned into pneumonia. She tried to tough it out, but when it was no better by the end of the day, she decided to go to the E.R. It took a few hours, but finally the physician assistant caring for her in the E.R. brought some good news. She didn't have pneumonia; she didn't have a clot in her lungs. This was just muscle strain from coughing. The year before, she was told she had asthma. She was given inhalers to stop the coughing and wheezing, but they didn't seem to do much. So she didn'...
Read more