WHAT IS CORONA-VIRUS COVID-19?

WHAT IS CORONA-VIRUS COVID-19?

WHAT-IS-CORONA-VIRUS-COVID-19

We often talk about 'corona', but officially the disease is called COVID-19. The disease is caused by a new coronavirus (SARS severe acute respiratory syndrome - CoV coronavirus -2). The complaints can resemble a cold. The disease can cause severe pneumonia, which sometimes also kills people.

What is Coronavirus?

COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) . The disease can cause respiratory complaints and fever and, in severe cases, breathing problems. The virus is spread through coughing and sneezing. It is released into the air via droplets. If other people breathe in droplets or get them in their mouth, nose, or eyes, for example, they can become infected with the virus.

The symptoms of COVID-19

The main complaints that often occur with COVID-19 are:

WHAT-IS-CORONA-VIRUS-COVID-19

• Common cold symptoms (such as colds, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat)
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Increase or fever
• loss of smell or taste

Read the complete article about the symptoms of COVID-19

Incubation time

WHAT-IS-CORONA-VIRUS-COVID-19

The period between the moment you become infected and you get complaints are called incubation time. If you become infected with the coronavirus, it usually takes 5 to 6 days before you get complaints, but sometimes after 2 days or even after 12 days (but never after 14 days).

Coronavirus Incubation Period

If you have complaints that fit with the new coronavirus

·         Do you have mild complaints, such as a cold, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, mild cough or increase to 38 degrees Celsius? And/or do you suddenly have a loss of smell or taste? Stay home, get tested, and get sick. Do not run errands or receive visitors. Have others run errands or have them delivered, get someone else to walk the dog. The rules that apply to everyone in the Netherlands apply to housemates without complaints (see the basic rules). If you have no complaints for about 24 hours, you can go outside again. People with crucial professions or who work in vital processes stay at home with mild complaints. 

·         Do you have mild complaints (such as the above) and fever (38 degrees Celsius or higher) and/or shortness of breath? Stay home, get tested, and get sick. Do not run errands or receive visitors. If you have housemates, they may not go outside until the result of the test is known; only those who have no complaints may do some shopping.

o    If the test shows that you do not currently have COVID-19, housemates may go outside without complaints. The following applies to yourself: get sick and stay at home if you have one or more of the following complaints: cold, cough, shortness of breath, increase, or fever. Do the complaints not pass, do they get worse or do you get new complaints? Then call the doctor. In a life-threatening situation, always call 112.

o    If the test shows that you do have COVID-19, housemates will stay at home without complaints. People who work in the vital sector or with a crucial occupation also stay at home. An exception can be made for these groups in consultation with the GGD Municipal health service and the company doctor and only if they have no complaints. 

When should I call the doctor?

You call the doctor if you get sicker or if you need medical help, for example, if you get a high fever or have difficulty breathing. Do not go to the doctor or hospital, but call the doctor or GP post.

Recovery after illness

It can vary per person how long it takes to recover. Not much is known about this. How quickly you recover depends, among other things, on the severity of the complaints and whether you are otherwise healthy. If you have no complaints (fever, cough, cold) for 24 hours, and it is a week after you got sick, you can at least no longer infect other people. People who are hospitalized generally take longer to recover.

It is not known how many people in the Netherlands have been cured from COVID-19. There is no obligation to report that people have been cured from the disease. We do know how many people have been released from the Intensive Care Unit and from the hospital. The National Intensive Care Evaluation Foundation (NICE) shows overviews of all Dutch IC on its website intensive care -patients with a COVID-19 infection in a Dutch or German Intensive Care Unit. View the overviews of Intensive Care patients and from the nursing wards from hospitals.

Who are extra vulnerable?

Anyone can become seriously ill from the new coronavirus, but some people are more likely to develop a serious course of COVID-19. 

Children have fewer complaints 

Children with COVID-19 have fewer complaints than adults, according to research by the RIVM National Institute for Health and Environment. It also seems that they infect others less often than adults. 

Ill several times

It is not certain if someone can get COVID-19 a second time. There is doubt about whether people with mild complaints build up sufficient defense against the new coronavirus. People with only mild complaints develop fewer antibodies and may possibly become infected again and/or transmit the virus. That is currently being investigated. Dutch policy is constantly being adjusted on the basis of the latest insights.

Therapy

There is no registered treatment (yet) for COVID-19. 

If you are sick at home, it is best to take acetaminophen. This works well against pain and fever. Other pain killers (NSAIDs: ibuprofen, diclofenac, or naproxen) have more side effects. Therefore, acetaminophen is safer. Paracetamol also works better against fever than ibuprofen. 

Various treatments are available for seriously ill patients with COVID-19 who have been admitted to the hospital. In the hospital, extra oxygen can also be administered to patients who are very short of breath or even ventilated in the Intensive Care Unit.

Several clinical studies are currently underway into the effect of different drugs:

• Blood plasma of those people who just passed from COVID-19 and recovered successfully. Erasmus MC is investigating this Erasmus University Medical Center currently in Rotterdam, together with blood bank Sanquin and about 15 other hospitals. According to South Korean doctors, two critically ill people have been cured with the new coronavirus after receiving blood plasma from recovered corona patients. This is possible because you often get protective antibodies in your blood when you cure an infection. We may be able to use those antibodies as medicines for other patients. It is not yet certain how effective this method is. The first results are expected in a few months.
• Chloroquine, a drug that is used, among other things, against malaria, and hydroxychloroquine. It is not certain whether these agents will help treat COVID-19. This does not seem, or only to a limited extent, apply to the patients who received this in the hospital studies that have now appeared. However, it appears that there are risks of serious side effects, especially cardiac arrhythmias. Therefore, the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is not recommended outside the hospital. Also in the hospital, it cannot be administered to every random COVID-19 patient. The administration is only possible in a hospital study if there are adequate heart rhythm controls, and in patients who are estimated that the potential benefits of the drug outweigh the currently known drawbacks. 

Contamination and prevention

You can transmit the virus by coughing and sneezing. It is released into the air via small droplets. If other people breathe in droplets or get them in their mouth, nose, or eyes, for example, they can become infected with the virus. 

If you keep a good distance from others (at least 1.5 meters) and regularly wash your hands well, the chance of becoming infected by the droplets It is very small.
Even before you get sick, you can already carry the virus with you. And just before you have complaints, you can also be contagious. But the more complaints you have, such as coughing and/or sneezing, the more viruses you can spread. 

The chances of infecting others are very small if you keep your distance from others, sneeze, and cough in your elbow, use tissue paper and stay at home, if you have complaints.

Less and fewer infections

Without measures, a sick person can infect 2 to 4 others on average. This is called the degree of contamination (R0). With measures, you can reduce the degree of contamination. Because measures were implemented in March, the degree of contamination (R0) has now become less than 1. This means that a patient infects less than one other person on average.

Measures to prevent the spread

Want to know more about the distribution? Check out the special page about the spread of the new coronavirus. 

Vaccine

We are working hard on vaccination against the new coronavirus, in laboratories in different countries. However, it will be a long time before the vaccine becomes available. That will not be available in the coming months. Once there is a remedy, it remains to be tested whether it causes side effects.
It is also being investigated whether certain existing vaccines would work against coronaviruses:

·         Vaccination against tuberculosis (the BCG Bacille Calmette Guérin -vaccine). There is no evidence (yet) for this. A study of the efficacy of the vaccine against COVID-19 will be launched soon. At the moment it is therefore not yet useful to vaccinate it for risk groups or health workers with the BCG vaccine.

·         Vaccination against mumps, measles, and rubella (BMR mumps, measles, rubella). There is no evidence (yet) that the MMR vaccine also works against coronaviruses. A study has been published that suggests that the antibodies raised by the MMR vaccine (especially rubella) may also work against the new coronavirus. However, these so-called cross-reacting antibodies have not been detected in the laboratory.
There is currently insufficient evidence that an MMR vaccination really protects against the new coronavirus. Therefore, it is not yet useful to vaccinate people who have not previously been vaccinated with BMR.

The flu shot

The flu shot does not protect against the new coronavirus. There is no evidence that people who have had the flu shot are more susceptible to the new coronavirus. Your resistance does not decrease after the flu shot. There is also no evidence that the flu shot itself increases the risk of COVID-19. In addition, a flu shot does not affect how bad the symptoms are if you get sick. 

Questions about quarantine and isolation

What is home quarantine?

Home quarantine means that the entire family/household stays at home because someone in the family has a fever and/or shortness of breath. We speak of quarantine if someone who is not ill has to stay at home until it is certain that this person is not contagious to others.

The person who is ill keeps as much distance as possible from the family/roommates.

How long does family quarantine last?

With a proven coronavirus infection, the family/roommates stay at home up to 14 days after the last contact with the patient. The patient remains in isolation until he/she has no more complaints about 24 hours. That means no fever, no cold, and no coughing.

In case of fever and/or shortness of breath, the family remains in-home quarantine until the patient is free of symptoms for 24 hours and no one else in the family has complaints.

What does home insulation mean?

Home isolation means that someone with a cold (such as a cold, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat), cough, shortness of breath, increase or fever or sudden loss of smell and/or taste (without nasal congestion) stays at home and keeps as much distance as possible from the housemates. His housemates also stay at home if someone has a fever and/or shortness of breath (home quarantine). All people with colds (such as colds, runny nose, sneezing, and sore throat), coughing, tightness, elevation or fever or sudden loss of smell and/or taste (without nasal congestion) should in principle stay at home.

Are there exceptions for certain people?

Different (living) rules for home isolation and home quarantine may apply to people in crucial occupational groups or vital processes, for example, care workers only stay at home if they themselves have complaints with a fever. If necessary, consult with the employer.

What is home insulation?

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A person who is kept in isolation is ill or there is a possibility that he is ill. Due to isolation, these patients cannot infect others. People can stay in isolation at home or be treated in isolation in a hospital. This depends on the severity of the symptoms and the infectiousness of the disease.