{"id":10368,"date":"2023-08-22T07:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T05:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/what-is-a-virus-and-in-particular-the-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2024-10-23T18:52:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T16:52:44","slug":"what-is-a-virus-and-in-particular-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/insurances-andorra\/blog\/what-is-a-virus-and-in-particular-the-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a virus, and in particular the Coronavirus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The word virus<\/strong> is of Latin origin and its meaning is poison<\/strong> or toxin<\/strong> . Viruses<\/strong> reproduce within the cell<\/strong> of our system that they infect<\/strong> , basically to reproduce and infect our system<\/strong> , what they do is hijack the cell<\/strong> ‘s information to produce viruses<\/strong> instead of new cells<\/strong> and thus expand. <\/p>\n\n

The emergence of a new virus<\/strong> , which has been called the Wuhan Coronavirus<\/strong> , has been very active since the end of 2019. What we are hearing through the news is that it is highly contagious and lethal<\/strong> , and has set off all the international health alarms<\/strong> . <\/p>\n\n

But what exactly is Coronavirus?<\/h2>\n\n

Coronaviruses<\/strong> are a group of viruses<\/strong> that can be of several types. All of them are common in animals<\/strong> , which means that they are transferred from animals to humans<\/strong> . Specifically in China<\/strong> they have a large animal market<\/strong> , a fact that has cultivated transmission<\/strong> . <\/p>\n\n

What are the symptoms?<\/h2>\n\n

The symptoms are similar to those of the flu: fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath and fatigue<\/strong> . The fact that it is lethal<\/strong> is that, depending on the state of your immune system<\/strong> , it can lead to pneumonia<\/strong> that can be complicated by a respiratory infection<\/strong> . <\/p>\n\n

Is there a cure?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

There is still no treatment<\/strong> currently that can combat this virus<\/strong> . The US National Institutes of Health<\/strong> are currently working on finding a vaccine<\/strong> , but once this happens, they will have to do clinical trials<\/strong> and all of this may take more than a year until they have a vaccine<\/strong> . <\/p>\n\n

This is the global situation by number of infected<\/strong> :<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  • CHINA: 60,000<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • ASIA<\/u><\/strong>\n
      \n
    • Japan: 32<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Taiwan: 18<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Cambodia: 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Malaysia: 19<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Philippines: 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Singapore: 58<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Thailand: 32<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Vietnam: 15<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • South Korea: 28<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • India: 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Nepal: 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Sri Lanka: 1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • OCEANIA<\/u><\/strong>\n
        \n
      • Australia: 15<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • NORTH AMERICA<\/u><\/strong>\n
          \n
        • Canada: 7<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • United States: 15<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • EUROPE<\/u><\/strong>\n
            \n
          • Germany: 16<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Belgium: 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Spain: 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Finland: 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • France: 11<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Italy: 3<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Sweden: 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • United Kingdom: 9<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Russia: 2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • MIDDLE EAST<\/u><\/strong>\n
              \n
            • United Arab Emirates: 8<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n

              What to do if you suspect infection?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

              The Coronavirus is transmitted through the respiratory tract<\/strong> , through respiratory droplets<\/strong> that we produce when we cough, sneeze or speak<\/strong> .<\/p>\n\n

              If we suspect that we may have been in contact with an infected person<\/strong> or we suffer from the symptoms<\/strong> that describe the Coronavirus<\/strong> , it is advisable to go to the nearest hospital<\/strong> and cover our mouth with a mask<\/strong> . Mild cases are treated like a cold<\/strong> , with rest, hydration with liquids and in case of pain and\/or fever, ibuprofen or paracetamol. In more severe cases<\/strong> , the affected person is admitted<\/strong> and given antivirals and doses of steroids to reduce lung inflammation<\/strong> and oxygen support<\/strong> . <\/p>\n\n

              In order to prevent infection<\/strong> , since there is still no cure<\/strong> , we will have to maintain basic hygiene<\/strong> . Wash your hands frequently<\/strong> and avoid contact with people who are already infected, especially protecting your eyes, nose and mouth<\/strong> . Note that no case has yet been detected<\/strong> in Andorra<\/strong> . The Chinese patient<\/strong> who went to the hospital with suspected infection<\/strong> had nothing more than a simple flu.<\/strong> In any case, at the Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Meritxell<\/strong> hospital<\/strong> , they are prepared in case they have to activate the protocol set by the WHO<\/strong> for prevention and detection. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The word virus is of Latin origin and its meaning is poison or toxin . Viruses reproduce within the cell of our system that they infect , basically to reproduce and infect our system , what they do is hijack the cell ‘s information to produce viruses instead of new cells and thus expand. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10369,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10368\/revisions\/10369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assap.ad\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}