Background to
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
In late December 2019 a new (novel) coronavirus was identified in China causing severe respiratory disease including pneumonia. It was originally named Novel Coronavirus and The World Health Organization (WHO) advised the following language associated with the virus. The virus causing the infection has been named - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The disease caused as a result of infection is named - coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 has been categorised as an airborne High Consequence Infections Disease.
SARS-CoV-2 is spreading between people globally and can be seen on the WHO situation reports dashboard which is updated daily.
There are now vaccinations available. As a viral infection, antibiotics are not an effective treatment.
Symptoms include:
fever, fatigue, a loss or change to sense of smell or taste and dry cough is likely in the early stage of illness, however some patients may not progress to more severe illness.
dyspnoea is said to be common in hospitalised patients, while vital signs are reported to be generally stable at the time of admission. Older patients with an underlying health condition are more likely to progress to severe infection
a variety of abnormalities may be expected on chest X Rays, but bilateral lung infiltrates appear to be common, similar to what is seen with other types of viral pneumonia.