Coronavirus, experts: No alarmism, is less dangerous than Sars, and Mers

The DATA on the new virus from China scare. Most outbreaks of Sars, the epidemic of coronavirus has already passed in China, the spread of the syndrome of 2003: 5974 confirmed cases (against 5327 Sars in nine months), while deaths rose to 132. From one country to another, the attention is on the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and the world seems to almost stop. But on mortality the experts of the Italian Society of anti-infection Therapy (Site) and of the Istituto superiore di Sanità calm down and remember how important it is to read the numbers with caution.

in order To understand how aggressive this new virus is, in fact, need to put the data in comparison with those of two other coronaviruses that have caused widespread epidemics in the recent past: that of Sars in 2003 and respiratory Syndrome middle east (Mers). Diseases that are spread between 2013 and 2019, killing many people and spreading fear. The Sars caused 813 deaths, about 8.400 cases, with a mortality rate then the 10% about, Mers has hit 2,500 people, causing 858 deaths, with an index of the lethality of 30% . "limited Numbers" According to current numbers, which must be considered with caution because at the moment the only source of information are the media and institutions in china, the mortality rate of the coronavirus 2019 n-cov would be just above the 2% . And this is why experts tend to consider the situation manageable: even if the epidemic is expanding rapidly, the mortality should be limited. Today, it can be much more dangerous pneumonia virus of china. "We are seeing a limited numbers, with sporadic cases of human transmission outside from China , especially if you compare them to the epidemic of any influenza virus in our country, with millions of cases from December to today," explains Matteo Bassetti , professor of infectious Diseases and director of the clinic of infectious Diseases, San Martino Hospital, Genoa, the president of the Sita - or, if we consider the impact of pneumonia that we treat in our hospitals. It should be noted that the bacterial pneumonia, the first cause of death from infectious diseases in western countries, each year causes 11,000 deaths in italy alone, and that in our country each year about 5,000 people die due to respiratory complications from flu". Rezza: "Probably not as deadly as Sars," An opinion also confirmed by the experts of the Istituto superiore di sanità (Iss). "The mortality rate is irrelevant if we consider the chinese population and lethality remain big doubts. We can do calculations at this time as regards the dead recorded the official total of registered cases official, because while the deaths are a given almost trusted, for the cases, it is not so: those registered are only the most serious and might overestimate the lethality or sottostimarla - says Gianni Rezza , director of the Department of infectious Diseases at the higher Institute of health, at the end of the first meeting of the technical committee-scientific on the coronavirus to the Iss. "Probably we are not at the levels of the lethality of Sars, perhaps something slightly more influence. The dead are mostly elderly or suffering from chronic diseases, the difference is that the flu we have a vaccine, while to this no". Symptoms The symptoms most frequently reported were high fever, fatigue, dry cough, and breathing difficulties with a situation variable, ranging from paintings quite mild to serious cases of pneumonia, that required reanimation assistance. The incubation time is 14 days. Have been taken In Italy, all health care procedures, containment and management: our country is fully equipped with departments of infectious diseases to the highest level, with rooms to negative pressure where, if necessary, we can hospitalize in isolation patients with coronavirus. Our laboratories of virology and microbiology, in addition, are already equipped to be able to make the screening and quickly understand if a person has been infected. "Situation under control" "The health care system for the management of infectious diseases is ready, tested and mature," explains Bassetti - the message to the population is to stay calm because at the moment there is no reason to get excited. The situation must be watched carefully and it is good to keep your guard up on any suspected cases coming from areas epidemic, but we should not create alarmism. Not to go to the chinese restaurant for the fear is unfounded, that this virus is transmitted through food or give up a trip to a place that is not considered to be at-risk behaviours are in my opinion excessive. The real risk is to give too much emphasis to something that in reality is very far from us and little or nothing dangerous, underestimating the real problems and tangible as the influenza epidemic, which is still not completely passed and is, this yes, a real danger for the risk categories".

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