Coronavirus are you worried?

[CountryGirl1234]

So this virus has infected 600+ already and seems to be picking up pace. It’ll be in the UK any day, if it’s not already. AIBU to think this is going to have a big fallout and are you concerned?

amp.theguardian.com/science/live/2020/jan/23/coronavirus-china-virus-flu-scotland-testing-wuhan-live-news-updates

Nldnmum - oh yes, I am monitoring and will have no hesitation in stopping him going if I feel it's necessary. I know my XH will kick off about it though.

However, two things, if there are just 1900 infections, then why the fuss?
Due to the incubation period this number is going to increase dramatically -

I’m sure the infected numbers are much higher. Not because China are being secretive about it but because they can only report confirmed cases and it’s likely many more either have no symptoms or mild cold or flu symptoms. The question is are those mild cases still contagious? I’m not sure anyone knows yet. Also, is the virus still likely to further mutate?

Bluetongue- I've just seen reports that those who have shown no symptoms at all during the incubation period can still be contagious. And the incubation period can be up to 14 days. This I think is why the numbers will grow and still unknown.

Also have seen somewhere that the transmission rate is estimated to be between 2-3 , meaning that for every infected person they'll pass it on to another 2-3 people

Just about to echo what nldnmum said, the Chinese authorities are now saying it's contagious before people are symptomatic, meaning it's difficult to halt the spread as people won't know they have it until it's too late. This was apparently not the case with SARS which was only contagious once the person had the symptoms. This is scary.

But it’s a vicious circle people get scared and go to the hospital for a virus actually there is nothing that can be done but let the body’s natural immunity response fight it off. The critical and fatal cases are due to the immunity response of an individual.
This clogging up of medical time means there is less time to treat those who actually need it
Given the infrastructure of our NHS GP appointments and A&E the real danger is that these are so overloaded deaths occur not just from coronavirus but from other illness because the infrastructure cannot cope. This could very well be the final nail in the life of the NHS
Very clear guidance will be needed as to when you should seek medical attention and when you can self treat. The infection rate will be high because we have developed no natura immunity. It may well not disappear now but become just another virus you get but it will be different because we have built up a response to it

They might be running out if testing kits/people might not make it to hospital to get tested (there were reports of people bring turned away at hospitals) too so the numbers are probably not accurate.

When I had swine flu I phoned the dedicated phone line set up, got diagnosed over the phone and set up with a prescription of tamiflu to be collected by a family member from nearest pharmacy using a special code. That was to avoid a clogging of people going to GP or hospital with swine flu. They might have to do something similar again should this spread to UK? Although I'm bit sure tamiflu is effective for coronavirus?

Meant to say; not sure.

Littleswede how awful for you.

I think the big fear is how viruses mutate and become harder to treat the more hosts they infect. We could be just at the beginning of it all. However, experts over estimated how many people would get infected with VCJD, Sars, Mers etc.

Having been obsessed as a child in the 70's with the TV series Survivors I do confess to feeling a bit worried.

Wish I hadn’t read Dog Stars recently.😩

Not concerned and I am auto immune.

Nope. Swine flu, bird flu, Ebola, Mers... I've survived them all so far. Not planning any immediate trips to Wuhan so pretty sure I'll be ok.

I am. I wasn't to begin with because I thought that the death rate sounded quite low.

The things that scare me now are:

• It's contagious during the symptom free incubation period- which allows it to be spread and means that fever-checks at airports are fairly futile

• Several cities are closed down for it- surely it's either more contagious or more deadly than initially suggested if this is the case.

• The Chinese government might well be covering up the nature of the illness and how deadly it is.

Not too concerned right now. And I am immunocompromised. If its going around I'll almost certainly catch it and bloody die. I'm not even joking.

The risk is minimal right now. We have 0 confirmed cases.
All we can do is use normal flu avoidance procedures, try to minimise situations where people are in our personal space, and cover our mouths and noses in those situations ( I often use a big snood over my mouth and nose anyway to avoid the cold triggering my asthma) and good had washing practice.

I think we will be alright. Anyone remember the fuss of Ebola?

Also the French Dr treating the French patients doesn't seem to think it's that bad. A bit of positive news amongst the usual, all of humanity will be wiped out sort of tales.

Ebola can only be passed through exchanging bodily fluids though I think?
I agree about what the French doctor said, that’s reassuring. However I have severe anxiety so not doing too well at the moment! But I’m like this every time there’s a health crisis, so I’d advise listening to the sensible people on here not me

No.

I don’t expect to be exposed to it, but nothing’s guaranteed, so if I start to feel at all unwell, I’ll stay at home and not risk spreading anything to anyone else, Coronavirus or not. (I appreciate that for some people, quarantining yourself might be difficult or even impossible.)

@Apirateslifeforme, the 'fuss' of Elboa was needed. It needed a Worldwide response. It's the first time the Nigerian government got it's shit together and actually did something for it's people, so you know it's serious .

Yes, people in the UK wasn't at risk, so you might consider it a fuss. But it was a serious threat to life elsewhere, had it not had the response it had. Because Women dress the dead and do the caring, they were most at risk. It's devastating to lose a Mother in the third world. But you sit in your ivory tower.

@ponoka7
I'm not sat in an ivory tower, the spread of the virus in other continents wasnt part of the discussion. What was being discussed were risk of such in this country.
The press loves to portray a massive risk to us, as it did in the past with Ebola when the risk was virtually none and therefore a lot of fuss where the UK was concerned.

Every day on average 75 people are killed or seriously injured by road traffic accidents in the UK. If you’re not fazed by getting in your car or even walking down the street this morning, it makes no sense to be anxious about this

I was thinking the same. This could be serious, we will know more in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime I wouldn't worry too much.

This could be serious, we will know more in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime I wouldn't worry too much

Worth considering that seasonal flu hits the southern hemisphere first, within a few months and despite the use of vaccines, it is wide spread across the northern hemisphere, flu has a incubation period of just 2 or 3 days at most, not 10 to 14.
Having just got over something very much like flu, i really hope the world will cooperate and get on top of this illness.

I had swine flu and was hospitalised, I’ve just had a serious illness and been hospitalised. I don’t feel overly worried though, I think the infection and mortality rate for measles is far higher currently but that’s not being whipped into a frenzy by the media. I will wait till more is known about it to panic.

There are an infinite number of things you could worry about that haven't happened yet. This is pretty low down on my list of potential worries.

Truth or Fake news??
www.express.co.uk/news/world/1233644/coronavirus-china-virus-vaccine-treatment-cure-symptoms

Apparently a "Vaccine" has been administered to some medical staff and is effective in controlling symptoms thus far.