Novel coronavirus: Your questions, answered

[…] We know that the more symptoms you have, the more likely you are to transmit.”However, she said, it is unclear how likely people with mild symptoms are to pass on the infection compared with those with severe symptoms.In an interview for the JAMA Network — also broadcast on February 6 — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that based on data that they have received from Chinese specialists, the new coronavirus’s “incubation period is probably between 5 and 6 — maybe closer to 5 — days.“That is, the virus likely takes about 5–6 days to give rise to symptoms once it has infected a person.Dr. Fauci also said that there had been some anecdotal evidence that people who carry the virus but do not, as yet, present any visible symptoms may still pass it on to others. However, the likelihood of asymptomatic infection and its possible effect on the outbreak remain unclear.Researchers from Chinese institutions were able to use state-of-the-art genome sequencing tools to identify the DNA structure of the novel coronavirus.It has emerged that 2019-nCoV is most similar to two bat coronaviruses known as bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21 — its genomic sequence is 88% the same as theirs.The same study shows that the new virus’s DNA is about 79% the same as that of the SARS coronavirus and approximately 50% like that of the MERS virus.Like previous coronaviruses, the novel coronavirus causes respiratory disease, and the symptoms affect respiratory health.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main symptoms of a 2019-nCoV infection are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.“Current information suggests that the virus can cause mild, flu-like symptoms, as well as more severe disease. Most patients seem to have mild disease, and about 20% appear to progress to more severe disease, including pneumonia, respiratory failure, and, in some cases, death,” WHO spokespeople told MNT.In an official WHO Q&A session, Dr. Van Kerkhove explained that as the symptoms of a 2019-nCoV infection can be very generic, it can be difficult to distinguish between them and the symptoms of other respiratory infections.To understand exactly what a person is dealing with, she said, specialists test viral samples, checking to see whether the virus’s DNA structure matches that of 2019-nCoV or not.“When someone comes in with a respiratory disease, it’s very difficult — if not impossible — initially to determine what they’re infected with. Additionally, the CDC estimated that 151,700–575,400 people worldwide died from (H1N1)pdm09 virus infection during the first year the virus circulated,” the WHO spokespeople told MNT.According to current assessments, 2019-nCoV seems to be more infectious than other coronaviruses — such as those that cause SARS and MERS — but less likely to lead to death.Some estimates suggest that the death rate of the new coronavirus is in the range of 2–3%, but there are no official numbers in this regard, as it is hard to tell how the outbreak will develop.In the WHO press briefing from February 6, WHO officials reiterated that the people most at risk of experiencing severe illness due to a 2019-nCoV infection are older adults and individuals who have other health conditions that compromise their immune system.“Being over 80 is the highest risk factor” for 2019-nCoV-related death, WHO officials also said in the press briefing.Other reports note that very few children have become infected with the new coronavirus and that men might be more at risk than women.Official WHO prevention guidelines suggest that to avoid infection with the coronavirus, individuals should apply the same best practices for personal hygiene that they would to keep any other virus at bay.According to the WHO spokespeople who replied to MNT queries:“Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering [the] mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, [and] thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.