With the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the globe, and with it taking lives in Italy, Spain and various countries, its rapid spread has become a major concern in our minds, as movement outside homes stopped, markets closed, and everyone started to work from home.
In our efforts to continue spreading health awareness about the coronavirus and our desire to eliminate false rumors that are spreading through social media, we interviewed Dr. Mohammed Kamal, an anesthesiologist and pain management doctor, to obtain accurate and correct information about it.
What does a coronavirus patient feel? What are the symptoms of the emerging coronavirus disease? Read along with us to find out his answers together!
Being a new disease to us, we are confused about how a coronavirus patient feels. So let’s start from there, what are the stages that a coronavirus patient undergoes while infected?
“The Covid-19 infection starts with being exposed to the virus by infected droplets contacting surfaces of one’s eye, nose, or mouth, or even by hands touching non-sterile infected surfaces and then touching the face. That is the first stage, after which the disease spreads in the human body when the initial symptoms of the Coronavirus begin to appear. The patient gets examined and according to the results, doctors send the confirmed case with symptoms and the cases that interacted with the patient into the hospital’s quarantine rooms.”
Tell us more about the symptoms that a coronavirus patient feels. According to what we see on social media, some people never feel any of the symptoms!
Dr. Mohammed Kamal added: “Yes, what is discussed in this regard is true, some people do not show any symptoms, and this group poses a greater threat in the spread of the disease because it transmits it to others without knowledge, while others show all symptoms.”
He continued: “I can say that what we are experiencing with patients is high fever and high body temperature, and those are the most frequent symptoms.”
What about the rest of the symptoms?
“The Coronavirus parasitizes the respiratory system and multiplies within the lungs. So, the most common symptoms as I stated are fever, in addition to a persistent dry cough and difficulty breathing, as well as general fatigue. Not everyone having these symptoms is a corona patient of course.”
Is there a difference between the coronavirus and common cold? Some people think it’s just a cold.
“Of course, there’s a difference! The Coronavirus directly targets the lungs. For instance, if you felt severe throat pain accompanied by a cough and runny nose, these are typical symptoms of the flu, but the presence of severe fever and headache accompanied by a dry cough, are signs of the Coronavirus.”
When does the coronavirus symptoms appear in a patient, if they show at all?
“The average incubation period of the Coronavirus disease and the onset of symptoms is 9 days after the infection.”
Isn’t the incubation period 14 days for coronavirus symptoms to begin to appear, according to circulated reports on the internet and news?
“The incubation period lasts between 5 to 14 days. I can say that the isolation takes place for 14 days to limit the largest number possible of patients with the coronavirus.”
We realize that some people are unaware of the examination process. How do you examine a coronavirus patient?
“Well, there are a lot of tests that we perform. Blood tests, chest x-rays for lungs, and throat swab tests depending on the patient’s condition. The most certain test to perform though is the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), which is very accurate. The PCR is done by examining swabs from saliva or mucus of the Coronavirus patient to find the effect of the virus’s genetic composition on the respiratory tracts. The examination can also be applied by taking a blood sample, which is even more accurate.”
How is a swab test done?
“A swab is taken from the nose or pharynx of a Coronavirus patient to examine, where the accuracy of this examination reaches 75%. Therefore, it is advised to repeat this test after two or three days after the first examination to obtain the confirmed results.”
The doctor also added “If the results of your tests were positive, this would mean that you have the disease! The negative result would mean that you do not have the coronavirus, but that does not mean that you will not catch it later if you come in contact with an infected person.”
You may wonder now, what’s next? The coronavirus patient has been isolated, checked and confirmed, what is the next step?
How do we guarantee that the quarantine process is safe in the hospital?
Doctor Mohammed Kamal told us about the quarantining process that patients with symptoms undergo during isolation. This is what he said: “The Coronavirus patient is isolated in quarantine rooms with negative pressure, where air flows from areas with higher pressure to areas with lower pressure, preventing contaminated air from escaping the room.”
He continued, “The disease period lasts 9-11 days from its diagnosis, by which the patient fights a decisive battle that ends either with his treatment or his death.”
And he continued in his speech to state that the most likely reason of death is the existence of complications of pneumonia from the coronavirus.
What about the supervising medical staff?
“Medical staff are the most vulnerable to the disease because they come into contact with the infected patients. Therefore, additional high-quality hygiene measures must be taken into consideration in order to ensure that they do not get infected with the coronavirus.”
Well, we heard in the latest statements from the White House in the United States that the coronavirus affects young people and adults equally, without distinction. Is this true?
“Definitely not! The death rate for those under 30 is less than 0.1%. The risk from the Coronavirus on the elderly is definitely higher than on the young. The number of those infected and the death rates differ from country to country, but I think this is an exaggerated statement.”
Who are the most at risk of dying from the coronavirus?
“According to statistics, the elderly, specifically 60 years and above have to be very careful, as well as whoever is:
- suffering from chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart problems and blood pressure.
- undergoing chemotherapy, such as cancer patients.
- suffering from HIV/AIDS.
- under the influence of steroids.
On the other hand, the coronavirus does not pose a serious threat to young people and everyone with good health and a strong immune system.”
Some rumors stated that there is a possibility that the lung capacity of patients would possibly decrease by 20% after treatment. Is this true?
“This is a very misleading claim. No one can generalize that everyone who heals from the coronavirus will not have his lungs functioning after treatment. It might have happened in some cases where treatment was extremely difficult. But it would be a mistake to generalize.”
What about the possibility of getting infected after recovery? It has been spread on Facebook that a Japanese coronavirus patient has contracted the virus twice!
He replied: “This news is true, he contracted the disease twice in a row, and yet we cannot conclude that all recoveries will be infected again. This is a rare individual case of more than 300,000 cases around the world.”
People in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been asking whether or not the coronavirus will die with summer approaching due to high temperatures.
“First, the coronavirus is not a human being to say ‘the virus died.’ Viruses are RNAs surrounded by a layer of proteins that infect the cells of the body and then multiply inside them. High temperatures may disrupt the activity of some types of coronaviruses, but there is no accurate information or enough data about the case of COVID-19.”
The latest studies state to us that the virus remains on the surfaces for days. How long does it last in the air?
“The virus remains in the air for 3 hours. On plastic and metal surfaces it would last for 3 days. While on cardboard, the virus may last for 20 hours. But it is worth noting that the virus may lose its potency after less periods of time on these surfaces, and this matter is still under study.”
What is the most effective way to sterilize the house and surfaces from the coronavirus?
“Sterilizers containing 70% ethanol, that is, alcohol, are sufficient for home use.”
How important is social distancing and isolation at home?
“According to British studies, the death rate from coronavirus is not only dependent on its effect on the body, but the greatest danger lies in the sudden rise in the number of cases, which leads to a much higher demand for hospital beds and unprecedented pressure on medical personnel.
The only way the largest possible number of people to survive is social separation, the closing of all schools and universities, and the commitment to isolation, reducing deaths by 50%.”
“If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia adopts the latest medical examination methods according to the rules of the World Health Organization to find the largest number possible of infected coronavirus patients in the country, then the noticeable and tangible outcome of ignoring social distancing and safety measures that is happening in Italy now, which is facing a complete collapse of the health system due to an enlarged number of patients and severe shortages in beds and medical personnel, where the death rate from Coronavirus increased from 3.4% to 8%!”
We finally conclude our conversation by asking about the availability of coronavirus treatment and the development of the coronavirus vaccine – what are the latest developments?
“Of course, there are tests. There is no official coronavirus vaccine or treatment that can be provided to Coronavirus patients as of 23/03/2020, but any new drug or vaccine generally requires at least 12 months of testing in order to be brought to the market.”
With all that said, Bayut Saudi Arabia Blog team concluded their discussion with Dr. Mohammed Kamal about what coronavirus patients are facing along with a coronavirus update in Saudi Arabia.
