Corona Virus - How Bad Is It? Calming the FEAR - Dr James Gill - 2/2

[Music] that's probably a nice segue to go back into this coronavirus one of the questions that we've got here from Stuart Ardis you know how long against the incubation for the virus and what are the symptoms that people might be getting the first thing to ask is what do we mean by the incubation period so the incubation period at the time when you first get infected to the point you develop the symptoms and for coronavirus it's quite short it's usually only two to five days an average about four or five days from the from the case series that we've happened from from China so on the balance of probability if you've not got symptoms within the first week then you're unlikely to get it however as a precaution because there's a variability in the individual and the virus we say that let's say you've come back from China if we do not develop symptoms in the first 14 days after return you should be fine so 14 days is the cutoff and how confident are we in that fork and very confident because we've got some got lots of data from similar coronaviruses and if you look at the molecular structure of this current virus and compare it with with with SARS it's actually very similar okay we think it's even the same receptor the main difference the main differences it's much milder SARS was more serious and there was a higher mortality with that but the the new coronavirus curve in nineteen is it's behaving in a very similar way to the influenza virus I think that a lot of people get worried you know is it safe to fly can I go in a metal tube you know and come out safe on the other end it's a good question listen it's a new virus so people have not encountered the virus and therefore people are going to become infected until all of this until the virus stabilizes in each of the countries in in the communities just like the swine flu the important thing for people to bear in mind is that it is a virus that spread by droplets and therefore gonna plane is not high risk at all you know go on your holidays go to the countries that you want to visit at the moment in the UK the the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recommending not to travel to China unless it's it's essential so I'm all right to go on holiday to Italy next week yeah absolutely perfect I need my pastor okay you said that we know it's not that infectious let's bless you know put it in context that people can understand I know if one of my patients comes in with flu you know I'm gonna say rats I wish I've got around to getting that flu jab how effective or infectious is the killer virus compared to flu okay so you know viruses in the nitrous corona virus are obligate intracellular parasites medical school was a little while ago go through that one again it was long for me absolutely right yeah but I'm a GP now I know a lot about a little know I know a little about a lot yeah well you can get a very experienced listen um if you break that that phrasing to do into each of those words obligate means it has two intracellular means it has to live within a cell a living cell a human cell for example okay parasite a parasite relationship because we're a organism that's lives on and on another organism to survive but if it's taken out of that situation it can't survive for example take the perfect example exactly okay so viruses viruses are organisms that they need other another living cell to survive so when they're outside and in that cell on a phone most format means anything in animate like it able or a book or any other surface the cancer survivor' very long and we know in it from the evidence we have so far for coronaviruses they survived about as much as a flu virus in the external external environment about an hour or so okay they can't survive very long and if you wipe the surfaces down or you practice good hygiene washing your hands then then you even eliminate that risk as well so we have mentioned about people you know wearing masks and things but correct me if I'm wrong but my opinion is that a mask isn't going to do much to protect a patient from getting you know infection just walking down the street but as you said just that good hand hygiene making sure they're washing their hands potentially using alcoa gel that's how somebody protects themselves from getting this isn't it yeah absolutely because this droplet spread it's off the contact the services and then they mess about with their eyes or the nose or the mouth or people who might have influenza marker advice will coffin sneeze over people yeah face to face like me and you are so first phase usually means about a meter but arm's length all right and that's when you get infected you know you don't get infected when you're walking down the street or walking through an airport okay it's close face-to-face contact when somebody coughs or sneezes and when you touch so when you wear a mask walking through an airport you you're more likely to touch surfaces that are infected and then you're more like such your face your nose your eyes or mouth and I personally think masks are worse and increasing risk of infection particularly not in that context so we've got a good question from Gordon Clayton what treatment is being used on the people that have contracted the virus I mean my take is that if it's like influenza we're just sort of tea sympathy in a bit of chicken soup what influenza first of all and it's supposed to repeat like you said plenty of hydration to get look if you want to if you're not vegetarian and but if you're severely ill we can give a drug called shot Olivia or the common name is Tamiflu mm-hmm for the cone of ice most people again concert' him because it's a mild disease for most people and drink plenty fluid stick passage of all and you'll get better however a small group of your patients will be civilian well and they'll be hospitalized and we do have well tried and tested and drug at the moment there is a drug called remedy severe and that is being trialed at the moment in China now it's been used sparingly in other coronavirus in the past but it's never been used for curve in nineteen the new current virus it's it's been used in humans so therefore we know it doesn't have any serious side effects okay so we have to just go go go along and actually try this and hopefully hopefully it might be effective ultra wander has asked you know why is the corona virus fatal which i think is quite an interesting question given me know what we've just talked about that for most people it's kind of like flu I'm glad you asked me that cause it I think this is an important question to ask to answer should I say the bottom line is less than three percent of people will die if they're infected with the corona virus some people have a very mild disease they hardly know they've got it so let's take things into context the flu the flu virus okay it affects about five million people at least confirmed case around the world and it can kill about 600,000 people a year okay that's that's that's that's more that's a lot more than than the corona virus okay the corona virus I said it's got a fatality a case fatality ratio so a number of deaths compared to the number of cases of about to be precise two point eight percent okay but but a bit it's less than three percent okay so you know it's it's not universally lethal and so people need to understand the people fitting well I like it to have a mild disease where it can be severe where it can cause pneumonia and and people can be really and well are people who might have underlying health problems so people who might have chronic lung disease heart disease they may have cancer or they may have a weakened immune system or they're older over the age of 50 65 and they're much more vulnerable and they more likely get severe disease so the fact that Netflix is suggesting I watch pandemic class tonight is probably just marketing and that's not what we're looking at well that's just I don't know that's what help helpful okay the world pandemic have got connotations of films and people with masks and people and isolation and people dying everywhere now what does the word pandemic mean pandemic means when you have a new disease I can new virus that people the human population have not encountered and it begins to affect multiple regions around the world for example multiple continents so SARS that was a panda and it was yeah and technically technically by that definition you could argue the current virus is a pandemic because it's a new disease and it's affecting several continents okay but it hasn't got sustained spread within other continents apart from sort of Southeast Asia so I don't think we're quite there yet what we want to sustain spread and you haven't got that and from from from a technical point of view people might argue that and and so what you know swine flu pandemic was there okay it's now transferred from being a pandemic to an endemic disease so now hopefully circulating in it within the population of Europe or through Asia or through North America KP and that's not on the news anymore no it still if actually it's probably that there are more cases of flu every year and there are okay wait doesn't know the news it's no more people are dying from flu but it doesn't make the news so good just got to be careful the word pandemic and not be too alarmed by it so we seem to be going back several times of this coronavirus versus flu given the choice I think that I'd probably prefer to tangle with coronavirus than the you know a straightforward influenza at the moment that's the impression I'm getting I think if you are fit and well okay you have a very similar disease again often the corona virus will be milder from from from the evidence we have so far if you if your fitter well but I think if you have if your underlying disease a pre-existing medical condition or of a weakened immune system the both can be severe okay and I would want either of them to be honest okay I think the slight advantage with influences that there is a vaccine okay at the moment with corona virus we don't have a definite treatment or a vaccine and and that's why it's important to practice good personal hygiene so if you are if you're symptomatic if you have cough or sneeze okay if you're sneezing make sure you use a tissue handkerchief when you cough or sneeze if you haven't got that easier arm we're elbow okay stop the disease from spreading pin it dispose of those tissues properly into bin and then make sure you kill it wash your hands or use our culture afterwards with good personal hygiene we can prevent the spread of this virus and what's really important is you need to make sure that if you've got symptoms you don't go around public transport or go on a flight don't go into a hospital if you don't need to go into a specific if the if as if this is it if the symptoms are mild stay at home okay so you know it's the things that you don't expect people to be doing anyway be polite be considerate about other people if you're unwell we'll save hope anyway yeah but people aren't always polite are they this nice I've got all over you and and you can't control that okay and you can tell them oh yes ooh it's really really really vaccine get it it's cheap okay you can get from local pharmacies in the UK travel clinics do it and yeah and if you've got a pre-existing disease like heart disease or cancer your own family doctor can do it free of charge all right and it's still not too late to have the flu vaccine you can you can get it late in the flu season because you know in the northern hemisphere the flu season starts what sort of air is it actually started earlier this year instead of to the mid-october and you just arts in November December but it started earlier this year but it can extend towards March April so I may have been on holiday when the vaccinations were done at my practice and then subsequently forgotten um would you say it's still worthwhile getting a flu vaccine now I think so and what James we can do for you well while you're here I walked into that yeah absolutely no it's now February there's still a high risk for you because you're vulnerable you're vulnerable because I'm going off you rapidly because okay no jokes aside you're gonna be encountering patients who will have flu facts the flu virus okay now you've wondered because I've already told you that you can't have serious complications with flu in fact you know healthy sadly very sadly very sadly healthy kids in the UK in a modern advanced health care system died of influenza the handful of kids died and the previously benefiting well so it's really important that get the flu vaccine for your own safety but also you're gonna be off work getting enough work for a week as a week's loss of income so it's it's it's really it's really important for a number of reasons that you get the flu vaccine and also if I'm not work for a week it means no it's going to treat my patients absolutely yes it's it's a multiplier effect if you like it right let's play devil's advocate then people are always going to say you know if I have the flu vaccine you know isn't I'm going to get me flu you can play the devil's advocate if you want to but actually that's not true the flu vaccine contains the killed flu virus it doesn't contain a live virus and for you to get the influence that you need a live virus okay that's the important you need to understand absolutely and that's what has so frequently I'll to say to patients that's why we'll give it to people who are on chemotherapy people who don't have an immune system absolutely kill them if we were giving them a live vaccine absolutely so so people think well you know if I've got pre-existing medical problems or if I've got a weakened immune system or if I've had chemotherapy perhaps I shouldn't begin these vaccine in fact the converse is true you know as long as it's not a live vaccine vaccines are even more important in these vulnerable groups so these groups should be vaccinated and flu so what about somebody who's got a cough the cold they're a bit under the weather does that going to affect their ability to get the vaccine so off they got a cough or a cold and you know if they're sniffily it's more likely that they've got the common cold okay and that shouldn't really prevent you from having the flu vaccine it's only if you've got a high fever of more than 30 degrees centigrade or you really unwell that's when you probably ought to delay or defer having the vaccine otherwise just go and get your vaccine okay well I tell us let's get that vaccine today since I'm here absolutely appropriate yeah thank you so much for the time today it's been very interesting for me and hopefully it helped a lot of people at home who have been ain't worried about things so thank you very much indeed probably James time to the stop is happy all right James you asked for it you said you had not been vaccinated and you are a health care worker yes I will hang my head in shame yep you should you should do well at least you've solved yourself so we're going to vaccinate this influenza vaccine it's got four strains yes it covers all the main strains you're not allergic to anything are you no you sell em theoretically I should be fine you fit in well yeah good are you working with needles yep no just anyway whimper alright just go to anywhere myself because it's always scary when people show the needle before the vaccination goes in right ready mm-hm left toss it back arm out so looking a little bit cold right it's going now sharp scratch it'll be cold all done not dead so you're sorted for this flu season but you'll have to come back for another one next season I'm sure we can solve that good done thank you you're safe right well I'll leave you with your infectious disease patients and then return from whence I came stay well all right I could come back next year okay well I think that we've all got a really good understanding of the background to the corona virus now and to be honest I think that we can see that whilst it is worrying for many people I think that we've got many other things that are more important out there yes I've been taken to task for not having had my flu vaccine but I think if we watching this video and learning that little bit more about the corona virus if it's been something that has had you thinking and worrying and you know watching all the news reports whenever they come out if you've been in that situation then dr. Guerra showed us today how in fact a common or garden influenza flu virus is actually probably going to be a bigger worry for you in which case we already have a vaccine they're so taught along to your you know pharmacy or talk to your health professionals and get PacSun ated so hopefully that's something else it'll take a bit of worry off your mind if you found this video useful I'd be really grateful if you could siddur whether or not it would worthwhile sharing this with somebody else this is all my education here and try to help people understand the science behind some of the slightly alarming news reports we get thanks for much every time and I hope you found a benefit here if you've got anything you'd like to add please stick it in the comments below and I'll try and get back to you thank you have a good evening you you