In the Know: Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Since April 2012, a new strain of the coronavirus—called novel coronavirus (nCoV) or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)—has been detected among humans with common symptoms such as acute, serious respiratory illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Most nCoV patients have had pneumonia, while others exhibited gastrointestinal symptoms. In some cases, patients succumbed to kidney failure.

Cases of infection have been reported mainly in Middle East countries, such as Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Cases have also been reported in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Tunisia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the European and North African cases have had a direct or indirect connection to the Middle East.

Of the 50 confirmed nCoV cases since April 2012, a total of 30 patients have died as of May 31.

Although experts have yet to learn more about the nature of nCoV—its origin, types of exposure that lead to transmission and its clinical pattern—the person-to-person transmission of the virus is either “strongly suspected or confirmed” by the WHO.

Lack of information about the virus prevents the WHO from giving specific advice on preventing the infection.

A vaccine against the virus has yet to be developed.—Lawrence de Guzman,

Inquirer Research

Source: World Health Organization