Dr. Seema Yasmin Answers 50 of the Most Googled Coronavirus Questions

Hi everybody, I am Dr. Seema Yasmin.

I'm an expert in epidemics.

The spread of disease

and the spread of misinformation about disease.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be responding directly

to your questions as you send them to me.

But right now, what I want to do

is go through the 50 most Googled questions

about coronavirus asked this week.

Starting from 50 and working down to one.

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Question 50, will coronavirus mutate?

So, right off the bat,

we're talking about the new coronavirus.

It's real name SARS-CoV-2 and it's part of this family

of viruses called Coronaviruses.

And yes, like every virus, this novel Coronavirus

does mutate, even though it has mutated, it doesn't seem

to have mutated in a way

that makes any meaningful difference to the way it spreads

or causes disease in humans.

Are symptoms sudden?

So they could be sudden onset, but we see that more

with the influenza virus.

It looks like we've COVID-19, symptoms can be more gradual.

Does coronavirus affect animals?

So yes, it can and it looks like this Coronavirus

may have originated in a bat, gone to another animal

and then arrived in humans.

Does Coronavirus kill healthy people?

Yes, it can and that's why we're making this point

about social distancing.

The higher death rates are in older people

and in people with pre-existing conditions

and a suppressed immune system.

Can I get infected with the new Coronavirus

if I'm wearing a mask?

Yes, but it does greatly reduce your chance

of getting infected.

The point here though, is that because we have

this massive shortage of masks, we're encouraging people not

to wear them unless they really need them.

Meaning they have symptoms or they're near somebody

who has symptoms because we want to conserve

as many masks as possible for our first responders

and healthcare workers.

When will a vaccine come?

Right now, we're seeing the beginnings

of phase one clinical trial and the phase one

is where you're testing in only healthy volunteers

and a very small group of them.

From that point, it's then at least 18 months,

if not many years before you have a vaccine

that both works and can be scaled up.

Do Corona virus symptoms come and go?

From the time somebody gets infected,

it takes on average about five days for them

to show symptoms, but it could be as early as two days

or as long as 14 days.

Once somebody is sick, it can be anywhere from around two

to six weeks that they continue to have these symptoms.

Why is it named Coronavirus?

When you look at it under an electron microscope,

you see this.

The virus is studded with the spike proteins

and they give it the appearance of having a halo or a crown

and Corona happens to be the Latin word for crown.

Did Coronavirus slowdown in China?

Yes, the virus seems to have reached a peak

on the epidemic curve and then cases started to decline.

When was Coronavirus discovered?

So, it was back in December, around December 26th

that a Chinese physician noticed an unusual pneumonia

and then it was on January 7th

that the new virus was identified.

Will coronavirus go away in the summer?

It's unlikely and especially here in the states.

Will Coronavirus affect the stock market?

Yes, we've already seen that happen.

Why is Coronavirus called novel?

Novel just means new.

Has Coronavirus been around before?

That family of Coronaviruses has been around

for a very long time.

Four of them are what cause the common cold in us,

but this particular one, SARS-CoV-2, is brand-new.

Does coronavirus need isolation?

When somebody has symptoms, we know they're contagious,

we want to keep them away from others

to prevent the spread of disease.

What are Coronavirus symptoms?

It causes fever, cough, shortness of breath

and it can cause very severe pneumonias

and potentially even death.

Will Coronavirus go away?

Probably not totally.

Look at what happened with H1N1 flu in 2009.

It caused a pandemic that year

and now it's a commonly circulating flu.

It's likely we'll see the same thing

with this novel Coronavirus.

Did Coronavirus come from snakes?

It's highly unlikely.

Why did the coronavirus start in China?

China is a country of more than 1.3 billion people.

The chances of something starting there or just higher

than starting in a smaller country and increasingly,

all of us humans are living in closer proximity to animals.

So this happened in China, but it could have happened

in many places.

Can Coronavirus spread through water?

So no, there's no evidence right now

that the virus can spread through water.

Will Coronavirus and the world?

No, let's all take a collective, deep breath.

I know it feels like the end of the world,

but it isn't.

Is Coronavirus in Mexico?

Yes, it has spread there.

Can Coronavirus spread through clothes?

Yes, it looks like the virus can survive on fabrics.

Which Coronavirus is in China?

I think this question is asking about the new Coronavirus,

called SARS-CoV-2.

Can the Coronavirus be stopped?

Yes, it can eventually with isolating people who are sick,

practicing social distancing while the pandemic is

at its peak

and also developing antiviral treatments and vaccines.

Can the Coronavirus live on surfaces?

Yes, we think it can survive on surfaces.

Anywhere from a few hours to a few days,

but it depends on the exact type of surface

and on the environmental conditions.

Was Coronavirus engineered?

No, it wasn't.

Where is the Coronavirus in the US?

It's been detected in all 50 states.

Can Coronavirus spread through food?

So right now, there's only evidence of this virus spreading

from one person to another.

There isn't evidence of people contracting the infection

from touching a contaminated surface,

but that's theoretically possible

and that could include food as well.

Can Coronavirus spread through mail?

Now that we know it can potentially survive from a few hours

to a few days on a variety of surfaces,

it is a possibility that mail could be contaminated.

Why is Coronavirus deadly?

It's deadly because it attaches to receptors on the surface

of our cells in our lungs and our respiratory tract

and it can cause a very severe pneumonia.

That then causes lung failure

and then we can also see multi-organ dysfunction as well.

Did the new Coronavirus come from bats?

What we think the moment is that this new virus came

to us from bats who infected an intermediate animal

and then that animal may have infected humans.

Why is the new Coronavirus dangerous?

It's dangerous because

it causes a respiratory tract infection.

It's also dangerous because this is the first time humans

have been exposed to this virus

and it means we have no pre-existing immunity to it.

How did the new Coronavirus spread in China?

So as I mentioned, we think that

this new virus originated in bats.

Is Coronavirus worse than the flu?

I'm getting asked this question so much.

I think people are wondering, well, flu kills tens

of thousands of Americans every year.

Why are we so worried about this new virus?

Here's why I'm worried.

It looks like the death rate from the new Coronavirus

is that least 10 times higher than the death rate

from seasonal flu.

Does Coronavirus go away?

So I already answered that.

Has Coronavirus reached India?

Yes sadly, it has.

We've been seeing cases that have reported

since the end of January.

Is Coronavirus a pandemic?

Yes.

Is Coronavirus new?

Yes.

Can Coronavirus in dogs spread to humans?

There's one case of a dog infected

with this new Coronavirus.

It didn't show any signs of disease and there's no evidence

of transmission from a dog to a human.

How does coronavirus work?

The virus enters the respiratory tract, through the nose,

the eyes or the mouth and then

it takes over our cells own machinery to its own ends

to make more copies of the virus.

Is Coronavirus man-made?

No, it is not.

Is Coronavirus in the US?

Yes, it is definitely here.

Can Coronavirus be treated?

Sadly, there's no specific antiviral treatment

just for this Coronavirus, but what we do as doctors

is treat the symptoms.

Is Coronavirus fatal?

Yes, sadly this new Coronavirus can cause death.

Particularly in people who are older,

have a compromised immune system

or have a pre-existing health conditions

such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease,

things like that.

It's Coronavirus curable?

No, we don't have a specific treatment

for this new Coronavirus.

Is Coronavirus airborne?

This one is so tricky

because there's no universal definition of exactly

what airborne means.

When a person who's infected

with the new Coronavirus coughs or sneezes,

they dispersed droplets from their respiratory tract

and those droplets can be full of virus.

They're said to travel about three to six feet.

Now, compare that to somebody who has measles

and sneezes, the virus then clings to particles

that hang in the air.

Those are much smaller particles compared to droplets,

they can travel further and they can just stay suspended

in the air for a lot longer.

Now, I will say this is a new virus.

Right now, what we're saying

is that there's a droplet transmission.

We're not calling it airborne.

How did coronavirus start?

So this new Coronavirus,

as I've mentioned a few times, probably originated in bats.

Went from bats to an intermediate host,

some other animal and then from that animal to humans.

How does Coronavirus spread?

So like I just mentioned, with those droplets,

what we understand is that infected person coughs

or sneezes and those virus are laid in droplets

can land on the person,

make their way into the person's respiratory tract

and that's how it spreads.

It could also spread through inanimate surfaces.

May be an elevator button or door handle,

but that's still being studied.

Right now, the evidence is a person to person spread.

Is Coronavirus deadly?

That's a number one question and the answer is yes.

Worldwide, this new Coronavirus has killed more

than 6,000 people as of March 17th, 2020.

So those are the most Googled questions as of this week.

I do think there's a lot of power and information

and a lot of comfort in dialogue.

So if you have any questions at all, please put them here

in the comments.

Reach me on social media and I'll be back here

in the Wired Channel,

responding to your questions and concerns.