Mommy, What is COVID-19?

Akku: Mommy, what is Coronavirus?

Coronavirus is a family of viruses that affect mammals and birds. Occasionally, coronaviruses have been known to move from animals to humans. The coronavirus we’re talking about today is a new virus, which causes an illness called COVID-19.

Akku: How did they name it?

The name “coronavirus” is derived from Latin corona, meaning crown or wreath. The name refers to the characteristic appearance of virions (the infective form of the virus) by electron microscope which have a fringe of large, bulbous surface projections creating an image reminiscent of the solar corona or halo. And In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ ‘D’ for disease and ‘19” as it was first found in China in the year 2019.

Akku: How did the Coronavirus outbreak start, mom?

It’s not completely clear how the outbreak started, but it’s thought it’s likely to have begun in Wuhan, China at a local meat market known to sell wild animal meat. Experts still don’t know for sure which animal sparked the outbreak, but it’s thought that the new virus could have originated in bats.

Akku: Mom, it’s just like a flu, right? Then why are we still on lockdown and what kind of precautions do we need to take?

Since we haven’t encountered this virus before, we need to take extra precautions. For the great many people, including kids, this coronavirus isn’t dangerous, it’s just like a flu and will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatments.

For a few people, like the elderly and people who have long-term health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer or chronic respiratory diseases, they are more likely to develop serious illness. The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is protecting yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and by not touching your face. And most importantly, keep social distancing. At this time, there is no treatment for COVID-19 or coronavirus vaccine available. That’s why we are still on lock down.

Akku: By the way, how does it spread?

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva from mouth and discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. So it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

Akku: What are the symptoms of Covid? And how do we know if we are infected?

COVID-19 have ranged from asymptomatic or mild symptoms like, fever, dry cough and tiredness to severe illness like difficulty breathing, chest pain and loss of speech or movement, and mortality. Symptoms may develop 2 days to 2 weeks following exposure to the virus.

There are two kinds of tests available, viral test and antibody test. A viral test tells you if you have a current infection. An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection. An antibody test might not show if you have a current infection because it can take 1–3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies. Having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 might provide protection from getting infected with the virus again. And the sample are collected by a swab test or blood test.