It is extremely important to not panic and to stay calm, this can prevent you from making your situation worse.
Dr. Jason Carmichael, MPH, is trained in Public Health and Epidemiology from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia with a lot of passion for public health and massive experience responding to outbreaks such as Ebola, Cholera and Polio with the World Health Organization. Here are your top questions on Coronavirus answered by Dr. Jason.
If you have medical questions related to Coronavirus and want to get them answered by local doctors, please submit them as a comment below! We are in this together and always here to support you!
Is Covid-19 airborne? Is it advisable that we wear masks while stepping outside?
Airborne spread has not been reported for COVID-19 and it is not believed to be a major driver of transmission based on available evidence.
Normally children and the older generation are more susceptible to infections, how come with this strain only the older generation seem to be dying more?
The virus is so new that we don’t really know. The fact that very few children have severe Covid-19 infection so far suggests that there is something fundamentally different about the way they are handling the virus.
The first suggestion is that there are many ways in which the immune system of a child differs from that of an adult, not least because the immune system of children is still very much a work in progress: children, especially those in nursery or school, are exposed to a large number of novel respiratory infections and this might result in them having higher baseline levels of antibodies against viruses than adults. The second suggestion related to that difference between children and adults could be put down to the ageing of the immune system.
Other reasons are suggested but are more technical. One of these suggestions is that the virus needs a protein on the surface of a cell called a receptor, to get into the inside of a cell and start causing problems. It may be that children have less of these receptors in their lower airways (lungs) than in their upper airways (nose, mouths and throats), which is why they are most often showing mild symptoms as it is their upper airways that are predominantly affected.
Additionally, other studies suggest that because children have fewer chronic cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, they are more resilient to severe coronavirus infection than elderly adults.
However, it is important to remember that we know very little about this virus. Scientists are still speculating in terms of trying to understand why we are seeing the epidemiology that we are seeing, and many studies and researches are still ongoing.
If one requires hospitalization due to inability to breathe well, what's the typical treatment protocol (prior to intubation)?
Practically, non-invasive techniques can be used in non-severe forms of respiratory failure: Patients should receive in that case oxygen therapy using oxygen masks or nasal prongs and require to be monitored very closely.
Note: If the scenario does not improve or even worsen within a short period of time (1–2 hours) the mechanical ventilation must be preferred
What precautions can I take if I have breathing problems due to Covid-19 in the house as I wait for the medical support to arrive?
First of all, it is extremely important to not panic and to stay calm, this can prevent you from making your situation worse. Also do the following:
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Settle down comfortably (a half-sitting position)
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Release your clothing
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Avoid any effort
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If necessary, lean forward slightly
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Call an emergency number
