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Fighting the new coronavirus has been for doctors a battle against the unknown.
More than 200 people have died in China because of the also known as Wuhan pneumonia, by the city where the outbreak originated.
In addition, about 8,000 cases have been confirmed in the Asian country.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday the outbreak of coronavirus as a “public health emergency of international importance”.
And the United States decided to veto the entry into the country of any foreigner who has visited China recently.
But how does this virus attack the body? What is the full range of symptoms? Who is more likely to fall seriously ill or die? How to treat these cases?
Now, a report of doctors in direct contact with this epidemic at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan gives some answers.
A detailed analysis of the first 99 patients treated at the site was published Thursday in the medical journal The Lancet.
Lung attack
The 99 patients who arrived at the hospital had pneumonia: their lungs were inflamed and the alveoli, the small sacs where oxygen passes from the air to the blood, were filled with water.
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One of the effects of the new coronavirus is inflammation of the lungs.
Other symptoms were:
- 82 had a fever
- 81, cough
- 31, trouble breathing
- 11, muscle pain
- 9 confusion
- 8 headache
- 5, sore throat
First deaths
The first two patients to die were apparently healthy people, although they were long-term smokers and that would have weakened their lungs.
The first, a 61-year-old man, had severe pneumonia when he arrived at the hospital.
He had acute respiratory distress, that is, his lungs could not provide enough oxygen to his organs to keep his body alive.
Although they put a fan on him, his lungs failed and his heart stopped beating.
He died 11 days after being admitted.
The second patient, a 69-year-old man, also had acute respiratory distress syndrome.
It was connected to an artificial lung or ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), but it was not enough.
He died of severe pneumonia and shock septic when your blood pressure collapsed.
At least 10% die
From January 25 to Thursday, of the 99 patients:
- 57 were still in the hospital
- 31 left high
- 11 died
However, this does not mean that the mortality rate of the disease is 11%, since some of those who remained in the hospital may die.
Many other patients have symptoms so mild that they don’t end up in the hospital.
Market workers
It is believed that the virus originated from live animals sold at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.
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Several combinations of drugs are being tested to treat the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Of the first 99 patients, 49 had a direct connection to the market:
- 47 worked there, either in administrative tasks or attending positions
- 2 were buyers
The most affected
The majority of the 99 patients had an average age of 56 years, and 67 of them were men.
However, more recent figures suggest a more uniform gender distribution.
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The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that 1.2 men were infected by each woman.
There are two possible explanations for the difference:
- Men may be more likely to get seriously ill and need hospital treatment.
- Men, for social or cultural reasons, may have been more exposed to the virus at the beginning of the outbreak.
“The reduced susceptibility of women to viral infections could be attributed to protection dthe X chromosome and sex hormones, which play an important role in immunity “says Dr. Li Zhang of Jinyintan Hospital.
Previous diseases
Most of the 99 patients had other diseases that may have made them more vulnerable to the virus as a “result of their weaker immune functions”:
- 40 had a weakened heart or damaged blood vessels due to conditions such as heart disease, heart failure and stroke.
- Another 12 patients had diabetes.
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