Five new drugs were found effective in inhibiting the new coronavirus, experts said Sunday during a periodic press conference held by Hubei province on updates of the new coronavirus pneumonia (PCN).
Three potential pre-screened antiviral drugs can inhibit virus replication at the cellular level, which have been used in the treatment of the disease. And five other new drugs have proven effective in inhibiting the virus, said Huazhong Agricultural University professor Chen Huanchun.
Peng Zhiyong, director of the Intensive Care Unit at Wuhan University’s Zhongnan Hospital, started on February 6 in Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan on February 6, at Remdesivir, an antiviral medicine laboratory produced in the United States.
While the public is eager to hear the test results, Peng said that only three days have passed and that the experiment is not yet complete. It still takes time for experts to evaluate its overall effectiveness.
Three-pronged approach to detect coronavirus
In the latest version of the coronavirus diagnosis and treatment plan, computed tomographic imaging (CT) was added as an auxiliary test method in Hubei, suggesting that the diagnosis of the virus may no longer depend solely on the results of the acid tests. nucleic.
The nucleic acid test sample was taken from the nasopharynx, in the upper respiratory tract, while the virus mainly attacks the lungs. So some cases show a “false negative” in the nucleic acid test, which leads to misdiagnoses, and may “mean that some sources of infection are not really identified and a risk of expansion,” said Xu Shunqing, vice president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology School of Public Health.
The fifth edition of the plan adds CT and clinical standards to provide evidence for diagnosis and treatment.
“Now the judgment on the disease is not only based on the positive nucleic acid test, but there are also clinical standards: three consecutive days without fever and improved CT imaging” which can make the judgment on the patient’s condition more accurate, Xu said.
Very low probability of aerosol infection
So far there is no direct evidence that the new coronavirus can be spread by aerosol, Xu said.
“I think aerosol transmission is currently primarily in particular environments, such as confined and confined spaces,” said Xu. “A large amount of viruses can be released into the operating room at the same time, in which case aerosol transmission may occur.”
Xu told the public that he was not terrified by thinking that viruses are in the air in Wuhan as they could confuse aerosol transmission and air transmission.
Aerosols, as small as a couple of tenths of a micron, can be made up of both liquid and solid particles. In general, wearing a mask can prevent aerosol transmission, says Xu.
The virus cannot remain in the air for long. The probability of being infected by the aerosols that pass through the opening window for internal ventilation is extremely low, the expert pointed out, even much lower than that of winning the lottery.
Is there a fecal-oral transmission?
NCP is an infectious respiratory disease and cutting the respiratory transmission is the most difficult.
Even though there is a fecal-oral transmission, which remains to be confirmed, it is quite easy to stop this path as long as people pay attention to personal hygiene and wash their hands before eating and after using the toilets, Xu said .
Warm weather will suppress the virus
Chen said that the coronavirus novel likes cold, and when the temperature goes up, it will be suppressed. That’s why between October and April, there is usually a higher incidence of viral diseases.
The outbreak in Hubei is still at rush hour and the key is to find out and isolate all potential infections, he said.
78% of emerging human infectious diseases related to wildlife
Recently, researchers from South China Agricultural University and Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Modern Agriculture identified pangolin as the potential intermediate host for the virus, but not the only one.
Chen reiterated that the new coronavirus may have multiple intermediate hosts and said that if it can be found that the virus has a 99 percent whole genome resemblance to pangolins, there will be a greater reference value.
He urged the public not to breed wild animals and “in no case should we eat wild animals”.
“78% of emerging human infectious diseases today are related to or derived from wildlife,” Chen warned.