As the new coronavirus continues to infect others around the world, press articles and social media posts about the epidemic continue to spread online. Unfortunately, this steady stream of data can make it difficult to separate facts from fiction, and a viral epidemic, rumors and misguided data can be dangerous.
Here at Live Science, we’ve compiled a list of the non-unusual maximum myths about the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, the disease it causes, and explain why those rumors are misleading or simply false.
No, it isn’t. Coronavirus is a giant circle of virus relatives that includes many other diseases. SARS-CoV-2 stores similarities with other coronaviruses, 4 of which can cause bleeding. All five viruses have thorny projections on their surfaces and use so-called complex proteins to infect host cells. However, the 4 bloodless coronaviruses, called 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, use all humans as number one hosts. SARS-CoV-2 stores about 90% of its genetic curtains with coronavirus that infect bats, suggesting that the virus originated in bats and then jumped on humans.
Evidence suggests that the virus passed through an intermediate animal before infecting humans. Similarly, the SARS virus jumped to bats in civets (small nocturnal mammals) on their way to humans, while MERS inflamed camels before spreading to humans.
No evidence suggests that the virus is man-made. SARS-CoV-2 closely resembles two other coronaviruses that have triggered outbreaks in recent decades, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, and all three viruses seem to have originated in bats. In short, the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 fall in line with what we know about other naturally occurring coronaviruses that made the jump from animals to people.
An exam published on March 17 in the journal Nature Medicine also provided strong evidence opposed to the concept of “laboratory engineering”. The review found that a key component of SARS-CoV-2, known as complex protein, would almost in fact have emerged in nature and not as a lab creation, Live Science has already reported. Also, if scientists were looking to use PC models to design a fatal virus discovered in the original SARS virus, they probably wouldn’t have selected the mutations that look like SARS-CoV-2. This is because PC simulations show that SARS-CoV-2 mutations do not appear to be very effective in helping the virus join human cells, Live Science has already reported. But it turns out that nature is smarter than scientists, and the new coronavirus discovered a way to mutate that was greater, and absolutely different, than everything scientists might have predicted or created, according to the examination.
Although pets may contract COVID-19 in rare cases, there is no evidence that they can pass it on to humans.
There have been some reports of cats and dogs inflamed with COVID-19 after playing with their in poor health owner. For example, in April, two puppy cats in New York tested positive for COVID-19, and the owner of one of those cats showed coVID-19 before the cat developed symptoms, Live Science reported.
Although pets are infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there is no evidence that they play a vital role in the spread of the virus. And so far, there have been no reports of other people getting the disease due to pets.
Just in case, the CDC recommends that people with COVID-19 have someone else walk and care for their companion animals while they are sick. And people should always wash their hands after snuggling with animals anyway, as companion pets can spread other diseases to people, according to the CDC.
Children can definitely catch COVID-19, although reports of serious illness in children are rare.
A CDC study of more than 1.3 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. from January through May found that the rate of confirmed infections in children under age 9 was 52 cases per 100,000 people in that population of children; that’s compared with an average of 400 cases (of any age) per 100,000 people in the U.S. population as a whole.
Another CDC study found that among 52,000 reported COVID-19 deaths from February through May, just 16 deaths were reported in people under age 18.
Still, not all children are spared from COVID-19. In rare cases, children with a current or previous COVID-19 infection have developed so-called multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). Symptoms of this syndrome can vary, but patients seem to have symptoms similar to those found in two rare conditions: toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, Live Science previously reported. Toxic shock syndrome is a life-threatening condition that’s caused by toxins produced by certain types of bacteria; Kawasaki disease is a childhood illness that causes inflammation in blood vessel walls, and in serious cases can cause heart damage.
In a study published June 29 in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers described 186 cases of MIS-C in 26 states. Of these, nearly 90% required hospitalization, 80% were admitted to the intensive care unit and 2% died, the authors reported.
No, you won’t. COVID-19 causes a wide range of symptoms, many of which appear in other respiratory illnesses such as the flu and the common cold. Specifically, common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, headache, sore throat, muscle or body aches, difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting. In severe cases, the disease can progress into a serious pneumonia-like illness — but early on, infected people may show no symptoms at all.
And some people never develop symptoms. Exactly how common asymptomatic cases are is still being determined, although the CDC estimates it may be around 40% of cases.
If you have underlying conditions and milder symptoms of the disease, you should seek medical attention at the nearest hospital, experts told Live Science.
Although the COVID-19-related mortality rate is unclear, almost all credible studies suggest that it is much higher than seasonal influenza, which has a mortality rate of about 0.1% in the United States, Live Science reported.
Among reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S., about 4% have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This is what’s known as the case fatality rate, which is determined by dividing the number of deaths by the total number of confirmed cases. But the case fatality rate is limited for a few reasons. First, not everyone with COVID-19 is being diagnosed with the disease — this is in part due to testing limitations in the U.S. and the fact that people who experience mild or moderate symptoms may not seek out testing. As the number of confirmed cases goes up, the fatality rate may decrease.
Many studies estimate that around 0.5% to 1% of people infected with COVID-19 will die from the disease, according to Nature News. Even a death rate around 1% is still 10 times higher than that of the flu.
It is also vital to note that CDC estimates of influenza diseases and deaths are just that: estimates (which make some assumptions) rather than uns cooked numbers. (CDC does not know the exact number of others who are in poor health or die of influenza each year in the United States. On the contrary, it is estimated that this number is discovered in the knowledge gathered on hospitalizations for influenza through surveillance in thirteen states. ) Researchers highlighted this point in a recent report published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, describing how they found that in the United States, there were 20 times more deaths consistent with the week for COVID-19 than from the flu, the deadliest week of an average flu season, Live Science reported in the past.
Researchers have yet to find any evidence that vitamin C supplements can render people immune to COVID-19 infection. In fact, for most people, taking extra vitamin C does not even ward off the common cold, though it may shorten the duration of a cold if you catch one.
That said, vitamin C plays a role in the human framework and supports overall immune function. As an antioxidant, the vitamin neutralizes loaded waste called loose radicals that can damage the tissues of the frame. It’s also helping the framework to synthesise hormones, produce collagen, and isolate vulnerable connective tissues from pathogens.
So yes, vitamin C will surely need to be included in your daily nutrition if you need to maintain a healthy immune system. But megadosa supplements are unlikely to decrease their threat of COVID-19 and, at most, may give you “modest” credit to the virus if you are infected. There is no evidence to recommend that other supposedly immunostimulant supplements, such as zinc, green tea or echinacea, also help save it with COVID-19.
Be wary of advertised products, such as remedies or remedies for the new coronavirus. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have already sent precautionary letters to seven corporations promoting fraudulent products that promise to cure, treat or save you viral infection
It is safe to obtain letters or packages from China, according to the World Health Organization. Previous studies have shown that coronaviruses are not very long in articles such as letters and packages. Based on what we know about similar coronaviruses like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, experts believe that this new coronavirus is probably not good on surfaces.
An earlier examination found that these connected coronaviruses can remain on surfaces such as metal, glass, or plastic for nine days, according to an exam published on February 6 in The Journal of Hospital Infection. But the surfaces on the packaging are ideal for the survival of the virus.
To keep a virus viable, you want a mixture of express environmental situations, such as temperature, lack of uv exposure and moisture, a mixture you might not get on the shipping packaging, according to Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, principal investigator, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, who spoke to the sister site of Live Science Science , Tom’s Hardware.
And so, “there is probably a very low threat of the spread of products or containers shipped over an era of several days or weeks at room temperature,” according to the CDC. “Currently, there is no evidence to assist in the transmission of COVID-19 related to imported goods, and there have been no cases of COVID-19 in the United States related to imported goods.” Rather, coronavirus is the idea of spreading to the maximum through breathing drops.
You can’t. According to this logic, you also deserve to avoid Italian, Korean, Japanese and Iranian restaurants, as these countries have also faced an epidemic. The new coronavirus not only affects other people of Chinese descent.
You don’t drink bleach or other family disinfectants, or spray them on your body. These ingredients are poisonous if ingested, and can also cause damage to the skin and eyes, according to the World Health Organization.
When ingested, sodium hypochlorite (bleach) can cause what is called “liqueciative necrosis,” or a procedure that causes tissues to become a viscous liquid mass, Live Science has already reported. Whitening can also damage cells because sodium reacts with proteins and fats in a person’s tissues in a procedure called saponification (soap), doctors reported in 2018 in a publication of the Emergency Medical Residents Association.
Alarmingly, about four out of 10 U.S. adults. A recent survey reported that they participated in harmful cleansing practices to save COVID-19, such as washing food with chlorine, family disinfectants on your skin, or deliberately breathing vapours from cleaning products, Live Science reported. Training
Eating safe foods, such as alcohol or garlic, won’t protect you from the new coronavirus. Although alcohol-based hand sanitizers work to disinfect your skin, alcohol does not have this effect in its framework when ingested, according to WHO. Excessive alcohol consumption can weaken your immune formula and decrease your body’s ability to cope with infectious diseases. And garlic would possibly have antimicrobial properties, there is no evidence that it can protect against COVID-19, according to WHO.
Viruses, by adding SARS-CoV-2, cannot or transmit over radio waves or cellular networks such as 5G networks, according to WHO. The new coronavirus is mainly transmitted through breathing drops that are expelled when an inflamed user coughs, sneezes or speaks, as well as through infected surfaces. WHO also notes that COVID-19 has spread to countries that do not have 5G cellular networks.
Exposing yourself to the sun or warm temperatures will not protect you against COVID-19, according to WHO. You can still catch the disease no matter how hot it is — indeed, the virus is spreading even in areas with very hot weather, such as Arizona. Taking a hot bath will also not prevent COVID-19, WHO says.
Wearing medical masks for long periods may be uncomfortable for some, but it does not cause oxygen deficiency or carbon dioxide (CO2) intoxication (when too much CO2 builds up in the bloodstream), according to WHO. The same applies for N95 masks and cloth face coverings, according to Healthline.
“Rebreathing tiny amounts of CO2 from wearing either properly fitted N95 respirators or more loosely fitted cloth or surgical masks is of no concern for the vast, vast majority of people,” Darrell Spurlock Jr., the director of the Leadership Center for Nursing Education Research at Widener University in Pennsylvania, told Healthline. “The ‘dose’ of CO2 we might rebreathe while masking is quickly and easily eliminated by both the respiratory and metabolic systems in the body.”
When dressed in a mask, you should make sure it’s tight and breathe normally, according to WHO.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the updated wisdom about THE transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in children.
Tia Ghose, Yasemin Saplakoglu, Nicoletta Lanese, Rachael Rettner and Jeanna Bryner contributed to this article.
Originally published on Live Science.
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