Nurse Notes: Coronavirus

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COVID-19

or

Coronavirus 2019 Outbreak

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Table of Contents:

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Introduction

What are the symptoms?

How does coronavirus spread?

How is it diagnosed?

How is it treated?

How is it prevented?

My source of information

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Also known as the “SARS-COV-2”,

Why? It is genetically similar to the SARS coronavirus outbreak back in 2002.

So, SARS-COV-2 (name of the virus) causes/leads to COVID-19 (name of the current outbreak).

Typically, coronavirus causes ¼ or a quarter of all common cold illnesses. However, when it mutates in an animal reservoir, like bats, the mutated disease causing virus can infect humans.

2002 - SARS Outbreak

The mutated virus started in bats, then infected civets, before infecting humans.

2012 - MERS Outbreak

The mutated virus started in bats, then infected camels, before infecting humans.

2019 - COVID-19 Outbreak

The mutated virus started in bats, then infected pangolins, before infecting humans.

As of February 11, 2020…

Fatality Rate - the percentage of deaths over the number of cases. The higher the percentage, the more likely death occurs.

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Why is it called Coronavirus?

It is a single strand RNA virus that has protein spikes on the surface that makes it look like a crown. Corona is latin for crown.

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Protein spikes?

They’re like hands on the surface of the virus that make it easy to attach to cells in the respiratory tract and lungs. It attaches to cells, takes over, and uses the cell’s organs to make more copies of itself to release to the rest of the body.

Symptoms happen when enough cells in the body are infected.

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What are the symptoms?

Some people do not develop symptoms at all.

Some show symptoms that range from mild like fever, coughing, shortness of breath to severe complications such as pneumonia.

When disease causes severe lung damage, ARDS, or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome can happen.

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What is ARDS?

It is when the infection gets so bad, fluid builds up around and inside the lungs. ARDS can cause septic shock, both of which are what people with COVID-19 can eventually die from.

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What is septic shock?

It occurs when blood pressure falls dramatically and the body’s main organs become starved for oxygen because low blood pressure means circulation of blood in the body can get so slow, cells don’t get oxygen and nutrients adequately.

Septic shock and ARDS can happen more easily in people over the age of 60, smokers and those already with medical conditions like hypertension.

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How does coronavirus spread?

Through saliva or mucus spread by coughing or sneezing. It can also be found in stool but I mean we’re not likely to share fecal matter………. That’s just ----

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Incubation period:

Once a person is infected, symptoms typically do not show up until 5-24 days later. This is called the incubation period. At this time, before symptoms show up, the virus is busy replicating and infecting more cells in the body. As it slowly spreads, symptoms start to appear.

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Can you spread the coronavirus before your symptoms show up?

As of now, the answer is debatable.

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How quickly does coronavirus spread?

Viruses are given a rating of R nought (R0) to determine how fast they spread. An R nought of 1 means that a person can infect 1 new person and an R nought of 2 means they can infect up to 2 new people at any time. An R nought above 1 means that over time, more and more people will be infected whereas an R nought below 0 means that the infection can easily die out on its own because it is not infecting enough people. SARS-COV-2 has an R nought of between 2-2.5 meaning it is highly contagious and will most likely infect more people over time. It is important to note that R nought is an average value. Some people will be less contagious and some people will be more contagious, the reason varies and is not clear.

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How is it diagnosed?

A test called real-time polymerase chain reaction is used to detect viral RNA inside the human body. It could be a swab test wherein a Q-tip is used to swab mucus samples, or a blood serum test, where blood is taken to be tested.

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How is COVID-19 treated?

It is treated by providing fluids (IV fluids), oxygen therapy and ventilatory which is when machines are used to help you breathe easier. Currently, 3 medications are showing promising clinical results.

They are: Chloroquine (an anti-malaria drug), Ritonavir (an anti-HIV medication) and Remdesivir (an antiviral drug previously used during the ebola outbreak).

Remdesivir was given to the first confirmed US patient when his symptoms were getting worse and he began to improve the next day. Remdesivir is currently being used in large scale clinical trials in China.

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How to prevent COVID-19?

There is currently no vaccine available, and it may be months to years before one is discovered.

For now, isolating or quarantine of people confirmed with COVID-19, staying 6 feet away or 2 meters away from people with symptoms, keeping surfaces clean (because the virus can stay alive on surfaces for up to 24 hours) and more importantly, avoid travel to outbreak areas or crowded areas.

Wearing surgical masks are not recommended (in the US) because currently, the possibility of getting COVID-19 in our setting is quite low. Instead, hand washing with soap or alcohol-based hand sanitizers is more than effective. to scrub well while you wash your hands. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouths as these are common entry points for viruses.

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For healthcare workers:

Don your PPEs!

Follow both droplet and precautions:

Wear surgical masks, gloves, long-sleeved gowns, eye protection

When performing procedures like tracheal intubation, bronchoscopy, R or non-invasive ventilation, it is important to wear N95 Respirators which prevents 95% of small particles like respiratory droplets from ing through.

Link

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About me:

Hi! I’m Mia, a US-based psychiatric nurse (as of 2/13/2020) who graduated in August 2019 and active Newsletter Leader here on Studying Amino. As of writing this post, I’ve been a part of Studying Amino for 640 days! Recently, I decided to make a series called Nurse Notes and what better way to start it than to inform the public about the coronavirus outbreak? I’ve also written several articles for Studying Amino’s official newsletter, Aesthetic Studies, as well as blogs about test taking and nursing school. I hope you’ll comment and check out my other works!

Test taking tips

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