Since COVID-19 began making inroads across the globe, we’ve learned a lot about the still confounding virus and what we can do to protect ourselves.
“Nothing was known about it in January, when the first global notifications were issued and every day adds new information,” said Dr. Joe Blondeau, Saskatchewan Health Authority’s provincial microbiology clinical lead.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by a newly-discovered coronavirus. While it shares some features with its virus family, COVID-19 behaves in unexpected ways.
“I believe our earliest assumptions were that the virus was similar to past variant coronavirus infections such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) or MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome). In those cases, the transmission remain contained and, ultimately, faded away without infecting a large percentage of the population,” said Dr. Blondeau.
It was quickly learned that
everyone is susceptible to COVID-19 and that the virus has a higher mortality rate than influenza.
“Deaths can occur in any age group and infections tend to be more severe in patients with underlying medical conditions.”
We now know
the virus spreads primarily by respiratory droplets produced when people cough, sneeze, sing or talk and
requires sustained close contact with an infected individual, said Dr. Blondeau. “It may also be transmitted via contaminated hands. For instance, a person positive for COVID-19 sneezes or coughs and contaminates their hands, then touches a surface, depositing secretions containing virus on that surface. Then another person touches that surface, has contaminated hands, and if they touch their mouth and nose, they are infected.”
This is why it remains important to practice good hand hygiene, to decontaminate high-touch surfaces such as debit machines, and keep your hands away from your face, including your mask.
While public health experts cautioned people about the effectiveness of wearing masks in the early days of the pandemic, the evidence has demonstrated that
masks protect you.
“N95 masks are rated to be 95 per cent effective and data is now emerging to show that other masks are between 70 and 80 per cent effective at preventing transmission or infection in the environments or conditions they were tested,” said Dr. Blondeau. “Not every type of mask has been tested; however, we believe masks act as a barrier to stop droplets that contain the virus. Wearing a mask is much safer than not wearing a mask.”
As we’ve become more familiar with COVID-19, we now know that
symptoms generally appear within the first week after exposure but could develop within as little as 48 hours. “In some patients, symptoms have appeared after one week which is why we recommend a quarantine period of 14 days,” said Dr. Blondeau.
Treatment methods for the infection have evolved rapidly. Milder cases are now treated with over-the-counter products for symptom relief. For patients requiring hospitalization, oxygen therapy is often necessary, as is a steroid medication named dexamethasone. While remdesivir has been approved for use in Canada, the World Health Organization recommends it not be used. Several clinical trials are ongoing around the world and within Saskatchewan to study other emerging therapies. Treatment is individualized to each patient’s needs by the medical care team.
It has been determined that patients with mild infections may have symptoms for only a few days. Those with more severe infections may be symptomatic much longer. These patients may also develop complications that that require long hospital stays and care. Other patients who survive either mild or severe infections may have longer lasting complications or symptoms such as fatigue, aches and shortness of breath that are not yet fully understood and require further investigation.
Of all the learnings of the past few months, perhaps the most significant is the recognition we need to be prepared to manage new infectious diseases as they arise, said Dr. Blondeau.
“There will likely be others. If there is another infectious disease threat perhaps next time, starting with the World Health Organization, we will take it more seriously sooner and move to implement the necessary measure to prevent its spread.”