The full university professor of the Faculty of Medicine, José María Martín Moreno, explains with the help of a video produced by the Faculty of Medicine of Stanford University (California) how the coronavirus spreads in population and how can we prevent it from spreading.

Martín Moreno explains that the virus caused by Covid-19 is a new coronavirus that was first identified during the investigation of an outbreak in the city of Wuhan, China. To avoid the stigma of associating the name of the virus or its disease with the city or country where it was first identified, the World Health Organisation (WHO) named this infection with the coronavirus disease 2019 name (COVID-19).

It is a fundamentally respiratory disease that can be transmitted from person to person, and the video shows very graphically how it has been propagating from person to person and moving across continents and population groups.

Transmission of the disease

Although it seems more than likely that the virus which causes Covid-19 initially emerged from an animal source, the full university professor asserts that the virus has now spread from person to person. The virus is mainly propagated among people who are in crowds or in close contact with each other (within 1.5 meters), but not only through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, but also by touching a surface or object with the virus on it. If the person then touches his or her mouth, nose, or eyes, he or she may also get infected.

Most likely to be infected and most vulnerable groups

José María Martín Moreno explains that the new virus does not affect all groups in the same way. Thus, there are people who would be at greater risk of infection by Covid-19. 'And it makes sense that this would be the case of people who are in close contact with someone who is known to have the Covid-19, for example, health workers or household members,' affirms Martin Moreno. Other people at a higher risk of infection are those who live in or have recently been in an area with ongoing spread of Covid-19.

Regarding the most vulnerable groups, this includes the elderly and those suffering from pre-existing medical conditions such as: high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular pathology, in addition to cancer patients or those under immunosuppressive treatment.

Symptomatology

When someone is infected, he or she may have no symptoms, or very mild symptoms, but at other times a mild to severe respiratory illness may occur, resulting in the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Difficulty breathing

As the full university professor explains, in a low percentage of patients, some of them present pneumonia in both lungs, multiple organ failure, serious disorders and all of this can eventually lead to death.

Disease prevention tips

People can protect themselves from respiratory diseases by taking daily preventive measures:

• Avoid close contact with sick people and avoid crowds.

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Alternatively, use a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.

• Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with non-washed hands.

Also, if you are the one with symptoms, don't forget to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze (remembering that the"respiratory etiquette" requires coughing into your forearm or elbow flexure and not into your hand).

Confinement: Why is it necessary and how to overcome it?

In view of the extraordinary exponential growth of the epidemic curve, it was necessary to do everything possible to flatten this growing curve and to prevent community contagion. This led to the announcement of the alert state by the Spanish government on 14 March, including generalised quarantines, the suspension of crowds such as sporting events or festivals and fairs, isolation at homes and border controls. All these measures were intended to prevent the health system from collapsing due to a shortage of resources. The use of diagnostic PCR tests on all residents with symptoms (to concentrate action more) and the fitting out of medicalised hotels and pavilions fitted out for this purpose for the isolation of cases attended by health professionals have also been considered as useful options. As Martín Moreno states, 'the main objective is that hospitals do not get overloaded and can thus provide the best possible care for the most seriously infected patients, as well as patients with other pathologies that require prompt care'.

On how to overcome this confinement, there are some simple actions that can be taken such as maintaining an optimistic and objective attitude and not feeding fear; implementing the appropriate hygiene and prevention habits recommended by the health authorities; avoiding to talk about it permanently; leaning on family and friends to keep everyone calm; not overexposing to too much information, but only to information that is reliable or checked, without contributing to the dissemination of hoaxes and fake news; trying to live as "normal" as possible; and 'continuing your studies or your teaching by taking advantage of the aula virtual and the platforms offered by our Universitat de València,' recalls José María Martín Moreno.

Prospective solutions

Although at present there is no vaccine or treatment that has been demonstrated to protect against Covid 19, the full university professor points out that many studies are being carried out that are sure to be successful. In the meanwhile, the best way to prevent infection is to take daily preventive measures, as the above explained, Jose Maria Martin Moreno concludes.