Operational Readiness Checklist for COVID-19: Interim Version
Source: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. Published: 2/12/2020.
The main aim of this 17-page checklist is to ensure that countries are ready at the local and national levels to detect sick people, test samples of those suspected of COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus), manage patients adequately, maximize infection control, and maintain open communication with the public. The tool was developed with other coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, in mind and in consultation with Member States. This information will help national authorities to identify main gaps, perform risk assessments, and plan co...
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - February 12, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
What ’s in a Name? Why WHO’s Formal Name for the New Coronavirus Disease Matters
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an official name for the new coronavirus disease: COVID-19 — making sure not to reference Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus originated. COVID-19 stands for Corona Virus Disease 19.
“Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing,” said Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks.” The WHO referenced guidelines set in 2015 that ensure the name does not refer to a geographical location, ...
Source: TIME: Health - February 11, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Sanya Mansoor Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 onetime Source Type: news
Indonesia Has No Reported Coronavirus Cases. Is That the Whole Picture?
Experts find it astonishing that Indonesia has yet to announce a case despite hosting some 5,000 Chinese tourists a day in Bali before halting flights last week. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - February 11, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Richard C. Paddock and Dera Menra Sijabat Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Travel and Vacations Politics and Government Epidemics Viruses Hospitals MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) World Health Organization Bali (Indonesia) Far East, South and Southeast Asia and Pacific Areas Source Type: news
It ’s Not Too Late to Prepare for COVID-19
By Dr. Lisa Stone,
Epidemiology Adviser ; Robert Salerno,
Director, Global Health Security
Publio Gonzalez, a biologist with the Gorgas Institute, holds a bat in Meteti, Panama, June 6, 2018, as part an Emerging Infectious Diseases Training Event (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dustin Mullen).February 11, 2020A disease spillover event, when a virus moves from animal to human hosts, can cause significant human illness. The coronavirus (COVID-19) seems to have spilled over sometime in late 2019, at a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, leading to more than 40,000 confirmed cases and at least 910 reported deaths&n...
Source: IntraHealth International - February 11, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: kseaton Tags: Infectious Diseases Global Health Security Source Type: news
Scientists Compare Novel Coronavirus with SARS and MERS Viruses
Researchers find 380 amino acid substitutions between 2019-nCoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-related coronaviruses. (Source: The Scientist)
Source: The Scientist - February 11, 2020 Category: Science Tags: News & Opinion Source Type: news
Pangolins Are Suspected as a Potential Coronavirus Host
The world ’s most trafficked mammal may be involved in the Wuhan outbreak, but the evidence is far from clear. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - February 11, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: James Gorman Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Pangolins MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) bioRxiv Baylor College of Medicine EcoHealth Alliance Texas A & m University Xinhua Wuhan (China) your-feed-science Source Type: news
Killer coronavirus can live on doorknobs, bus handrails and protective gear for NINE DAYS
A team of experts at Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Greifswald in Germany analysed 22 studies on the survival of viruses such as SARS and MERS. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - February 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Coronavirus outbreak raises question: Why are bat viruses so deadly?
It's no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks in recent years - SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg and likely the newly arrived 2019-nCoV virus - originated in bats. A new University of California, Berkeley, study finds that bats' fierce immune response to viruses could drive viruses to replicate faster, so that when they jump to mammals with average immune systems, such as humans, the viruses wreak deadly havoc. (Source: World Pharma News)
Source: World Pharma News - February 10, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Featured Research Research and Development Source Type: news
New Report on 138 Coronavirus Cases Reveals Disturbing Details
A highly contagious patient, virus transmission inside a hospital and unexpected turns for the worse have emerged as part of the epidemic in China. (Source: NYT)
Source: NYT - February 8, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Denise Grady Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Wuhan (China) Epidemics Hospitals SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) Viruses Journal of the American Medical Assn super-spreaders your-feed-healthcare Source Type: news
The Coronavirus Outbreak Should Bring Out the Best in Humanity
Pandemics are perversely democratic. They’re nasty, lethal and sneaky, but they don’t discriminate. No matter your age, ethnicity, religion, gender, or nation, you’re a part of the pathogenic constituency.
That shared vulnerability, and the resulting human collectivism—a universal response to a universal threat—is newly and vividly evident in the face of the now-global outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV. As of writing, there have been over 30,000 diagnosed cases and over 630 related deaths. A virus that emerged in a single city, Wuhan, China—indeed, in a single crowded ...
Source: TIME: Health - February 8, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized 2019-nCoV Infectious Disease Source Type: news
New Report on 138 Coronavirus Cases Reveals Disturbing Details
A highly contagious patient, virus transmission inside a hospital and unexpected turns for the worse have emerged as part of the epidemic in China. (Source: NYT)
Source: NYT - February 8, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Denise Grady Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Wuhan (China) super-spreaders Hospitals SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) Viruses Journal of the American Medical Assn your-feed-healthcare Source Type: news
New Human Coronavirus Closely Related to Bat-Derived Coronaviruses New Human Coronavirus Closely Related to Bat-Derived Coronaviruses
The new human coronavirus responsible for the current outbreak is closely related to two bat-derived coronaviruses and distinct from the coronaviruses responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), researchers report.Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Critical Care Headlines)
Source: Medscape Critical Care Headlines - February 6, 2020 Category: Intensive Care Tags: Infectious Diseases News Source Type: news
Why the New Coronavirus (Mostly) Spares Children
So far, very few young children seem to be falling ill. The pattern was seen in outbreaks of SARS and MERS, too. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - February 6, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Apoorva Mandavilli Tags: Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) Epidemics MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) Children and Childhood Deaths (Fatalities) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention China Source Type: news
Red Book 2018: Chapter: Coronaviruses, Including SARS and MERS
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Published: 2/5/2020.
This chapter from Red Book 2018 provides information about coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). It discusses clinical manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnostic tests, treatment, isolation of the hospitalized patient, and control measures, and provides images. Information about 2019-nCoV was added in February 2020.
(Text) (Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health)
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - February 5, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Past Outbreaks Provide a Roadmap for U.S. Government Response to Coronavirus Threat
While the threat of the new coronavirus in the United States remains limited, a network of U.S. government agencies are already furiously ramping up efforts to contain the disease, should an outbreak occur.
“We are working to keep the risk low,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who is leading the federal government’s response, at a press conference Friday. So far, the overwhelming number of new cases of the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, remain in China. There are only 11 confirmed cases in the U.S.
The good news, some officials and infectious disease experts tell TIME, is t...
Source: TIME: Health - February 4, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Abigail Abrams Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
