The COVID-19 pandemic imposes extraordinary circumstances upon all of us. Beyond all the appropriate measures taken by Fasken to safeguard the health of its employees and business partners, it is important that each of us have access to reliable and easy-to-understand information about the scientific aspects of this crisis.
In this context, our Intellectual Property Group, which includes a great number of professionals holding B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in life sciences such as in microbiology, immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology gathered together – virtually of course – and prepared a Q&A, based on the questions they received most frequently from their children, parents and friends, to provide easy understanding of the basic science behind the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please note that the following information is provided for education purposes only and, as the situation is changing constantly, it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, as of March 25, 2020. The information provided here is not intended to be legal advices nor health advices. Any health concerns in connection with COVID-19 should be brought to the attention of a qualified health specialist.
1. WHAT IS A VIRUS?
A virus is small infectious agent that can multiply only in living cells. Viruses are composed of a small piece of genetic material (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein shell. Once a virus enters a living cell (the host cell) it takes over the cell's inner workings such that the cell cannot carry out its normal life-sustaining tasks. The host cell becomes a virus manufacturing plant, making viral parts that then reassemble into multiples copies of the virus which then go on to infect other cells. Eventually, the host cell dies. A virus is the smallest of infectious microbes, smaller than a fungi or a bacteria.1
2. WHAT IS CORONAVIRUS?
Coronaviruses (CoV)are a large family of viruses that spread from animals to humans and include diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). They are so named because they comprise "spike" proteins which, when viewed under an electronic microscope, looks somewhat like a crown ("corona" in latin").
3. WHAT IS COVID-19?
COVID-19 is a new discovered infectious disease caused by a virus name SARS-CoV-2 or nCoV-2019. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 20192.
4. WHY IS THE WORLD SO CONCERNED WITH COVID-19?
Scientists are concerned as the disease is caused by a virus newly emerged in humans, the world's population is completely immune-naïve and therefore vulnerable.
The virus is also contagious such that transmission can be massive in a short period of time with thousands of new patients diagnosed daily.
For instance, the basic reproduction number, also called the R-nought value, is the expected number of individuals who can catch the virus from a single infected person. For COVID-19, the R-nought value is estimated to be between 2 and 2.5, at the moment, meaning that each infected person will infect 2-2.5 more persons. This is worse than the 2009 H1N1 virus (the mean R-nought value was 1.46) or the seasonal flu (R-nought of about 1).3.
The virus is also lethal in some instances. Though the death rate for COVID-19 is unclear, most research suggests it is higher than that of the seasonal flu (typically around 0.1%)4. Estimates of 2–3% are commonly reported5. The percentage of mortality greatly varies by age segment and by countries, with elderly being the most at risks. For instance, Italy is reporting a death rate of 7.2% (compare to 2.3% in China), likely because of a relatively high proportion of older people6.
The good news is that the actual percentage of infected people who die from the disease (the death rate) are likely presently lower than the 2–3% estimates commonly reported. That is because the number of infected people is much larger than the number tested and reported7.
It is estimated that the majority of infections (80%) are mild (with flu-like symptoms) and can recover at home, about 14% are severe, developing severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath and about 5% are critical (e.g. respiratory failure, septic shock, and multi-organ failure)8.
5. WHAT IS A PANDEMIC, AND WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH AN EPIDEMIC?
According to the website of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the "CDC"), the level of a spreading of a disease comprises multiple levels. When a specific disease is typically observed in a community under normal conditions, it is referred to as the endemic level. When the incidence of disease rises above the observed endemic level, this is typically referred to as an epidemic or, in some cases, an outbreak where the incidences are restricted to a limited geographic area. Pandemic, on the other hand, refers to an epidemic that has spread over multiple geographic areas, such as multiple countries or continents9.
6. HOW DOES THE VIRUS SPREAD?
The virus is thought to spread mainly between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 1-2 meter or 3-6 feet). Respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. You can also get infected if you touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with your contaminated hands10.
Preliminary studies suggest the COVID-19 virus may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days11. That is another reason to wash your hands frequently since you may have touched surfaces contaminated with live viruses (handle door, elevator button, counter, etc.).
7. HAND SANITIZER OR SOAP AND WATER? WHAT WORKS BEST? IS LYSOL AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS EFFECTIVE?
Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses. This means they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill. To protect yourself you should wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place. To protect others, you should also wash your hands after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol such as Purell® or the like. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry12.
If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus. Health Canada has approved several hard-surface disinfectants for use against COVID-19. The list is available here:
8. WHO IS AT RISK? WHY?
As indicated in Question 4, this is a novel virus everyone is at risk.
However, older persons and persons with pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, cancer or diabetes appear to develop serious illness more often than others13. As indicated above at Question 4, older people are most at risk to die from COVID-19. However younger adults should take the disease seriously since more and more analysis show that healthy younger adults also experienced severe cases of the disease and required hospitalization14, 15.
9. HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE COVID-19? WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, dry cough and difficulty breathing. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Accumulating evidences also suggest that lack of taste and/or smell may also be symptoms of a COVID-19 infection16. Some people become infected but don't develop any symptoms and don't feel unwell. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment.17
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Footnotes
1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center
2. World Health Organization, March 19, 2020 (https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses)
3. Livescience.com, March 18, 2020 (https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-pandemic-vs-swine-flu.html)
4. Livescience.com, March 19, 2020 (https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html)
5. As of March 23, 9:31:51 am there were 15 374 deaths, 351 731 confirmed cases and 100 430 recovered according to the data provided by Johns Hopkins University (https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6).
6. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) (http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/italian-doctors-note-high-covid-19-death-rate-urge-action)
7. Figure and information obtained from article published by Humanprogress.org on March 02, 2020 (https://humanprogress.org/article.php?p=2472)
8. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-symptoms/#mild
9. United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section11.html
10. WHO : https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
11. WHO : https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
12. CDC : https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html
13. WHO : https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
14. Science News, March 19, 2020 : https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid19-young-adults-can-face-severe-cases
15. The New York Times, March 23, 2020 : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-young-people.html
16. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, March 22, 2020 : https://www.entnet.org/content/aao-hns-anosmiahyposmia-and-dysgeusia-symptoms-coronavirus-disease
17. WHO: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
