KARACHI: The novel Coronavirus outbreak in China, which originated from Wuhan and spread to several countries of the world, is “neither a curse not it is linked with the eating habits of a particular nation”; instead it is an infectious disease with less than two percent mortality and should be dealt like a public health issue.
“The ongoing outbreak of novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV is neither the first such incident nor it would be the last infectious disease. The world is dealing with deadly outbreaks of viral and bacterial infections, including Ebola, SARS, MERS and now novel Coronavirus. In the coming years, there would be more such outbreaks but what is important at the moment is that we should know how to deal with these infections and how we can people save themselves," said Sean G. Kaufman, a behavioural psychologist and expert, on response to infectious disease while delivering a talk at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on Tuesday.
Speaking at a seminar on “Novel Coronavirus nCoV – Fear vs Negligence and Emergency Response”, organized by the DUHS in collaboration with American Society for Microbiology, through video link, Sean G. Kaufman said as it was a novel or new Coronavirus, so the Chinese authorities took some extraordinary measures to contain it and added that so far their efforts had borne fruit as the infectious disease remained confined to a particular area in China.
He maintained that people should not panic and instead of showing emotional response, people should behave sensibly as Chinese authorities were doing their best to contain the virus and treat the infected people, adding that experts should be allowed to take decisions in this case.
Advising people to wash their hands regularly with soap and practice social distancing, he said infection caused by the novel Coronavirus had not emerged as a serious threat to humankind and added that people could prevent themselves from contracting this infection by adopting simple measures required to avoid flu and cold infections.
Eminent Pakistani microbiologist and pathologist at DUHS Dr. Muhammad Saeed Khan briefed the participants of the seminar in detail about the emergence of novel Coronavirus and said people coming to Pakistan should either be quarantined for 14 days at the airport or health facilities or should be tested negative before allowing to proceed to their homes, saying thermal scanners used by the authorities at the airports would be unable to detect persons infected with the virus.
He, however, maintained that of the 20,613 people infected with novel Coronavirus, only 427 people had died, which shows that mortality due to this viral infection is around two percent, adding that even common cold and flu result in more deaths. He added that as this was a new virus of the Corona family, it was being taken as a serious threat.
Prof. Saeed Khan maintained that as this virus can be destroyed by washing hands with soaps and detergents, people should regularly wash their hands after shaking hands and touching surfaces, keep a distance from persons who are coughing and sneezing and if possible, use some masks to prevent themselves and others from the viral infections.
Prof. Shehla Baqi, an Infectious Diseases expert from SMBBIT, spoke on the precautionary measures at the hospitals where suspected patients of novel Coronavirus would be kept and added that proper isolation rooms should be established to keep such patients while doctors and paramedics should use the personal protective equipment (PPE) while visiting and dealing with the suspected patients.
Rejecting the notions that the outbreak was a curse on a particular race due to their eating habits, she said Saudi Arabia faced the outbreak of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), which is the holiest place for Muslims while it spread from camels, which also have a religious connotation, and added that in the absence of primers and kits for diagnosis, experts should follow the WHO’s case definition to identify the suspected patients.
Vice Chancellor DUHS Prof. Saeed Quraishy in his address informed that their varsity would be able to diagnose novel Coronavirus by the end of this week as primers and probes to analyze the samples have been ordered by them, which would be received shortly.
“We also have acquired personal protective equipment while some material has been provided to us by the World Health Organization (WHO). We have also established isolation rooms to keep the suspected patients," he added.
