Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : January 25, 2020 12:35 PM IST
The findings could help inform strategies for minimising the effects of the seasonal flu. @Shutterstock
The Wuhan coronavirus has started a fear of a global outbreak of the SARS-like disease. The disease first made an appearance in December in Wuhan city, China. Soon, many other people reported symptoms similar to pneumonia. This alerted officials who then initiated an investigation.
Today, cases are being reported from places as far-flung as Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, France and the United States. Countries across the world are leaving no stones unturned to prevent an outbreak in their region. The affected countries are scrambling to halt the spread of this virus by isolating patients. The situation becomes all the more alarming with a new study in the medical journal The Lancet reporting that people without any signs of the disease may also be contributing to its spread.
According to researchers, 'people may be carriers of the new coronavirus even if they do not have flu symptoms'. To reach this conclusion, researchers followed a family of seven in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Five members of this family had travelled to Wuhan, the center of the outbreak. Two of them met an infected relative admitted in a hospital there. They underwent tests days later, after they returned home. Researchers saw that six members of the family tested positive for the coronavirus. This included one who had not gone to Wuhan. A child who tested positive had no symptoms at all.
In light of the above study, researshers concluded that people with the Wuhan virus may be spreading it without knowing that they have it. According to them, "This new coronavirus is able to transfer between person to person, in a hospital setting, a family home setting, and also in an inter-city setting. This is exactly what makes this new disease difficult to control." They also said that this disease is a 'asymptomatic walking pneumonia.'
According to the World Health Organization common initial symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus is coughing, breathing difficulties, wheezing and shortness of breath. It can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome and even kidney failure.
