ACTA SCIENTIFIC MICROBIOLOGY (ISSN: 2581-3226) Volume 3 Issue 5 May 2020 Short Message to All Healthcare Providers about Coronavirus Infectious Disease-2019 (COVID 19) Syed Haseeb Raza Naqvi 1 , Madiha Fatima 2 and Han Naung Tun 3 * 1 Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan 2 Post Graduate Resident, Adult Cardiology Department, National Institute of Car- diovascular Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan 3 Council of Cardiology Practice, European Society of Cardiology, Sophia Antipolis, France *Corresponding Author: Han Naung Tun, Council of Cardiology Practice, European Society of Cardiology, Sophia Antipolis, France. Short Communication Received: April 06, 2020 Published: April 24, 2020 © All rights are reserved by Han Naung Tun., et al. Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses, cause respiratory tract infections in human that can be mild as common cold and can be lethal, such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in No- vember 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coro- navirus pandemic [1]. Worldwide, total numbers of cases have reached up to 1,188,486 with recovered cases 244,280 and deaths 64,091. To begin with China was having the most diagnosed cases but currently USA is leading by 302,919 and Spain following by 124,736. This data has been changing dramatically everyday [2]. Clinical features of COVID-19 may appear 2 to 14 days after ex- posure and can include fever 88%, dry cough 68%, fatigue 38%, coughing up sputum or thick phlegm from the lungs 33%, short- ness of breath 19%, bone or joint pain 15%, sore throat 14%, head- ache 14%, chill 11%, nausea or vomiting 5%, stuffy nose 5%, diar- rhea 4%, coughing up blood 1% and swollen eyes 1% [3]. Bat being the potential reservoir [4], there are 4 ways of human to human transmission including contact (direct or via a fomite), droplet infection, airborne e.g. during intubation and feco-oral route [5,6]. This transmission occurs both by symptomatic and as- ymptomatic patients [5,6]. Median incubation period is 4-5 days and 97% will experience symptoms within 11.5 days of exposure [7,8]. It remains stable for upto 3 hours in the aerosolized form, upto 24 hours on cardboard and upto 3 days on plastic/stainless steel [9]. A type of cell receptors named, ACE2 (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2) receptors are found in the lower respiratory tract of humans, also known as cell receptor for SARS-CoV. Zhou., et al. have confirmed that the SARS-CoV-2 uses the same ACE2 receptors, as SARS-CoV. The virion releases its genome into the cells with the help of these receptors, resulting in viral replication and prolifera- tion, ultimately leading to SARS [4]. Major cause of death in these patients is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Other complications include arrhythmias, acute cardiac injury and shock leading to mortalities [10]. The current focus is all on preventing the spread of the disease. The two most effective measures to be taken are hand hygiene and social distancing [11]. Frequent hand washing with an alcohol- based hand rub (laboratory data suggests 60% ethanol and 70% isopropanol) or with soap and water for atleast 20 seconds remove the virus. Social distancing (maintaining distance of minimum of 1 metre) is designed to reduce interactions between people. Exam- ples of social distancing include closing of schools or office build- ings, suspension of public markets and cancellation of gatherings. This distancing helps in staying away from the asymptomatic infec- tious individuals which are not diagnosed yet [12]. Face masks are also emerging as an important preventive mea- sure for this infection. A proper surgical mask, consisting of 3 lay- ers, has the filtration efficiency up to 95%. This mask can be used to avoid infecting others or being infected in public settings. Respi- rator mask includes N95, N100, KN95, FFP3, FFP2, KF94 etc. with filtration efficacy in order of N100 (99.97%) = FFP3 (99.95%) > N95 (95%) = KN95 (95%) = FFP2 (94%) = KF94 (94%) > KN90 (90%).These respirator masks provide the barrier from direct contact with fluids [13]. As we know that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus are asymptomatic and can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social Citation: Han Naung Tun., et al. “Short Message to All Healthcare Providers about Coronavirus Infectious Disease-2019 (COVID 19)". Acta Scientific Microbiology 3.5 (2020): 119-122.