Coronavirus willlikely begin to spread throughout the U.S. soon, as the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday, sparking fears that the virus will harm Americans. But just how deadly is it? Not particularly, researchers say.
Those with mild cases experienced fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing problems, and were able to make a full recovery. Researchers said that the difference between mild and severe cases was that the people with severe cases developed pneumonia, defined as an infection of the lungs.
In critical cases, people went into respiratory failure, septic shock or multiple organ dysfunction,The New York Timesreported. But just 14 percent of cases were considered severe, and less than 5 percent considered critical.
Additionally, the majority of deaths from coronavirus occurred in people 60 or older with pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. And men died at a higher rate than women — 2.8 percent for men, and 1.7 percent for women.
The SARS outbreak in 2002, in comparison, did not infect as many people, but had a much higher fatality rate of 9.6 percent,according to CNN.
The downside to the mild symptoms is that they are harder to spot, as they don’t appear to be that different from the common cold, another type of coronavirus. That means people may not realize that they have coronavirus, and continue their usual activities while inadvertently spreading the disease.
Currently, the CDC is recommending that Americans begin “to prepare for a significant disruption” to their lives if the coronavirus spreads, and to anticipate school and office closures. As far as prevention, theCDC says that following basic hygiene practices, such as hand washing and avoiding people who are coughing or sneezing, is the best course of action.
source: people.com
