The Chinese coronavirus, which was recognized as a global pandemic, has already reached Ukraine and even managed to take the life of a pensioner in the Zhytomyr region.
According to doctors, the virus in most cases is mild, and only some patients die. BBC News Ukraine described in detail how the virus enters the body and in what forms it flows.
Incubation period
From the moment of infection to the onset of symptoms of the disease takes about 5 days. The virus enters the body and creates its own copies of cells, which then infect new ones. It can be “picked up” by airborne droplets, or when you touch a contaminated surface and then your face. First affects the throat, respiratory tract and lungs. At this early stage, a person is sick, and sometimes symptoms may not appear at all.
Light form
It is fixed in 8 out of 10 patients. Symptoms – Fever and Cough. Weakness, headache, and sore throat are also possible. Fever and general malaise is the reaction of your immune system to infection. The disease is usually accompanied by a dry cough, which turns into a cough with sputum. These symptoms are treated by bed rest, heavy drinking, and paracetamol. Special medical care is not needed here. This stage lasts about a week – most recover.
Heavy form
The progression of the disease is associated with an overreaction of the immune system to the virus. So there is inflammation, in particular pneumonia.
“The virus causes an imbalance in the immune response, and we don’t know how it does it,” explained Dr. Natalie McDermott of King’s College London.
During pneumonia, shortness of breath and shortness of breath appear. Then some people need a ventilator. This form of Covid-19 affects about 14% of patients.
Critical form
At this stage, the body can no longer fight, and there is a real risk of death. There are approximately 6% of such cases. With a critical form, the immune system gets out of control and harms the entire body. Blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels, and organs stop working properly or completely fail – septic shock begins. The virus eventually captures every corner of the body.
With this form of treatment, it is highly invasive, an artificial lung ventilation apparatus (ECMO) is used, but usually the organs can no longer support the body’s vital functions.
Coronavirus in Ukraine
Earlier, presidential spokeswoman Julia Mendel said that during restrictive measures, the country’s leadership should do everything possible to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“The state cannot say whether quarantine will be extended in two weeks, because we must do everything possible to prevent the spread of Covid-19. We will respond to the situation,” she wrote on Facebook.
Glavred also wrote that on March 13 the first death from a coronavirus was registered in Ukraine. The 71-year-old resident of the Zhytomyr region, who was hospitalized on March 12 with a laboratory-confirmed case of Covid-19, died.
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