>> So the whole family of coronaviruses are named Coronavirus
because corona means crown, and so this refers
to the way that the virus looks under the microscope,
like there's a crown on the top of the virus.
Some of them, four or five different kinds,
cause common diseases among humans,
everything from the common cold
to mild or moderate respiratory illnesses.
Other kinds of coronaviruses affect animals,
and sometimes, on rare occasions, we see coronaviruses jump
from animal species into the human population.
The 2019 novel coronavirus is getting a lot of attention now
because it is a new kind of coronavirus
we haven't seen among humans before.
The theory is that it may have jumped from an animal species
into the human population, and then begun spreading.
We have seen some people that have died of this disease,
and we know that there are already thousands of cases.
So people are concerned, because we don't yet know exactly
how severe the disease will be or how far it will spread.
When a new virus emerges, we often have to learn much more
about it, and one of the things that we question
is how does it transmit from person to person?
We know that most respiratory viruses are spread
by large droplets that come out when people cough
and sneeze, and stay aloft usually
for about six feet in front of them.
They land on surfaces, and then can also be transmitted
between person to person by touching those surfaces,
such as door knobs or other surfaces.
Other viruses can spread in the air and stay aloft
for a longer period of time in small droplet nuclei.
For this current 2019 coronavirus, we're not yet sure
whether it is droplet or airborne transmission,
so we're erring on the side of caution and taking protection
as if it was spread by the airborne route.
We're still learning a lot about
this 2019 novel coronavirus, to understand
how dangerous it might be.
Right now, the majority of the cases are in China.
We know that some travelers have brought the virus
to other countries, including the United States.
I think one of the main things to keep in mind
is that this is respiratory virus season,
and we have other respiratory viruses like influenza
that we need to take precautions because we know
we have thousands of cases and thousands of deaths
in this country every year from influenza.
Given the ongoing transmission of the virus in China,
we have a travel alert that was issued
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So at this time, until we know more,
avoid non-essential travel to China.
Johns Hopkins Health System and health systems
across the nation are busy right now preparing
to safely identify, isolate, evaluate, and care
for patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus.
We have the capability of doing this safely
by utilizing personal protective equipment,
by implementing travel screenings so that
we can quickly identify patients
who have risk factors for the disease,
and then implementing isolation precautions, the use
of personal protective equipment, and other measures
to make sure that we limit the spread of the virus.
At the Johns Hopkins Hospital and throughout
our health system, we routinely care for patients infected
with diseases that are spread by the airborne route,
so we have expertise to do this safely.
When a new virus comes along that has unknown risks,
we have extra measures that we can put in place, including
our biocontainment unit that can advise us and put plans
in place to safely care for these patients.
by Sufyan Rahmani
