The infection with Coronavirus ‘largest RNA virus’ attacking the respiratory epithelium can be easily prevented by using prophylactic measures. Being an enveloped virus it can be easily killed by various disinfectants. The disease can be managed using various herbal treatments, immunoboosters and giving respiratory support ample amount of rest.
What Is Coronavirus
The coronavirus is a big family of pathogens that only infect animals. A coronavirus gets its name from how these pathogens exhibit spikes that resemble the angles of a crown The name coronavirus is derived from the Latin corona, meaning "crown" or "halo", which refers to the characteristic appearance reminiscent of a crown or a solar corona around the virions (virus particles) when viewed under two-dimensional transmission electron microscopy, due to the surface covering in club-shaped protein spikes. Some of them cause mild illnesses like the common cold. Others can cause fatal infections.. They are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from approximately 27 to 34 kilobases, the largest among known RNA viruses. This is a class of virus that is known to mutate easily. MERS and SARS both began as infections in bats before mutating to infect humans. They had evolved in their animal hosts to infect humans. The type that infects humans was first identified in the 1960s. Since then, seven human-infecting types of coronavirus have been identified, including 2019-nCoV, also known as Wuhan Coronavirus. This virus resembles other serious human coronavirus types MERS and SARS in that all belong to the "beta" subgrouping of virus. They are associated with the common cold, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and can also affect the gut.
Transmission
Coronaviruses are thought to spread most often by respiratory droplets, such as droplets in a coughs for ten minutes or longer or sneeze exposure as being within six feet of an infected person, by touching a surface seats on buses or trains or desks in school or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, they release droplets of saliva or mucus. These droplets can fall on people in the vicinity and can be either directly inhaled or picked up on the hands then transferred when someone touches their face, causing infection.
How To Kill Coronavirus On Inanimate Surface:
These human coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, have been found to persist on inanimate surfaces -- including metal, glass or plastic surfaces -- for the range of persistence on surfaces was less than five minutes to as long as nine days if that surface had not been disinfected, human coronaviruses "can be efficiently inactivated by surface disinfection procedures with 62-71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite or bleach within one minute."More than 80% of patients have mild disease and will recover. SARS-CoV can be inactivated quite easily with many commonly used disinfectants. Four hand rubs were tested at 30s (Sterillium, based on 45% iso-propanol, 30% n-propanol and 0.2% mecetronium etilsulphate; Sterillium Rub, based on 80% ethanol; Sterillium Gel, based on 85% ethanol; Sterillium Virugard, based on 95% ethanol). Three surface disinfectants were investigated at 0.5% for 30 min and 60 min (Mikrobac forte, based on benzalkonium chloride and laurylamine; Kohrsolin FF, based on benzalkonium chloride, glutaraldehyde and didecyldimonium chloride; Dismozon pur, based on magnesium monoperphthalate), and one instrument disinfectant was investigated at 4% for 15 min, 3% for 30 min and 2% for 60 min [Korsolex basic, based on glutaraldehyde and (ethylenedioxy)dimethanol]. Three types of organic load were used: 0.3% albumin, 10% fetal calf serum, and 0.3% albumin with 0.3% sheep erythrocytes. Virus titres were determined by a quantitative test (endpoint titration) in 96-well microtitre plates.
Symptoms
The virus can cause pneumonia, coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be respiratory failure, septic shock and multiorgan failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. Recovery will depend on the strength of their immune system There is no cure, so treatments include taking care of yourself and over-the-counter (OTC) medication:
Psychological Preventions
Wide spreading of coronavirus is making some people anxious, stressed having symptoms of loneness, psychomotor excitement or depression. This needs psychological interventions to the needed people. There are some important tips people must take care whenever anxiouses attack comes.
- Take a deep breath and we should remind ourselves that the number of confirmed infections in the India is still very low. And the fact is that the news spreading in media or social media does not necessarily means presently it is talking about us or of our near and dear.
- It is helpful to take the advice for the preventive measures from the medical experts rather than on the news or rumors. We should also try to find out the source of the data of the news to relay on it.
- Sharing facts with the family members and children’s with age appropriate information can help allay distress.
- Always take the help of professional psychologist during panic attack or distress.
With the proper intervention for fear of disease, by taking proper advice from physicians and psychologists can help in avoidance of serious mental problems (e.g. violence, suicide behaviors or stress).
Do’s And Don’t During Infection:
Rest and avoid overexertion. Drink enough water. Avoid smoking and smoky areas. Use a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer. Eat warm and freshly prepared thoroughly cooked food. Fumigation using aprajita, gugglu, sarja, devdaru, vacha to disinfect the environment. Gargling whenever you come in contact with persons who is coughing or sneezing. Pranayam, anulom-vilom and jal neti should be done regularly.
How To Prevent Infection:
Wash your hands: Lather your hands, including the backs, between your fingers, and under your nails and scrub for at least 20 seconds. Rinse. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue in the bin and wash your hands. If you do not have a tissue to hand, cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than your hands. Face masks offer some protection as they block liquid droplets but do not block smaller aerosol particles that can pass through the material of the mask. The masks also leave the eyes exposed and there is evidence that some viruses can infect a person through the eyes. If you are in an affected area avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.
Medicinal Plants Which Can Be Used As Preventive Measure
Some medicinal plants can be used for treatment such as honeysuckle contained some tiny, unique molecules of genetic material known as micro ribonucleic acid that could bind with the viral strain and slow down its duplication in our genes these small plant genes could remain almost intact after being boiled – as required when preparing herbal medicine. A blend of honeysuckle, Chinese skullcap and forsythia, is antiviral, antibacterial and good for the immune system; thus, it is often used to relieve symptoms such as fever, cough and sore throat. Aged red garlic extract suppressed neutrophilic lung inflammation. Turmeric has antioxidant activity against stress and act as therapeutic agent against lung injury. Aralia continentalis Kitagawa. Gleditsia sinensis an effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of wheezing and coughing, thorns of Gleditsia sinensis are used as antibacterial agent anti-HIV. The bark of Acacia Arabica (Babool), stem of Tinospora cordifolia (Giloya) and dried roots of Withania somnifera(Ashwagandha). Onion juice and honey mixed together Adhatoda vasica (Adufs), 100 gm dry seeds of Moringa olecifera (Munaga), 50 gm leaves of Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) and 25 gm Piper longum (Peepar) can be used for treatment of cough. A decoction prepared by Acorus calamus (Bach), Adhatoda vasica (Adusa), Boerhaavia diffusa (Punarnaba), Leucas aspera (Guma), Ocimum sanctium (Tulsi), Solanum surattense (Kateli), (Asthamabuti), Zingiber officinale (Adarakh), Mentha arvensis (Mint), Curcuma longa (Haldi) and Ferula assafoetida (Heeng) is prescribed in the treatment of respiratory distress. Acrous calamus (Bach) is a drug of choice for the treatment of various pulmonary complaints.
Table 1. The following herbs were used for preventive measure.
S.no. |
Herbal name |
Effect |
Time to use |
1 |
Forsythiae fructus |
Antipyretic detoxifying |
Full course |
2 |
Licorice |
Qi-reinforcing |
Full course |
3 |
Mori cortex |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Full course |
4 |
Chrysanthemi flos |
Pungent cool diaphoretics |
Full course |
5 |
Farfarae flos |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Full course |
6 |
Lonicerae japonicae flos |
Antipyretic-detoxifying drugs |
Full course |
7 |
Mori follum |
Pungent cool diaphoretics |
Full course |
8 |
Peucedani radix |
Phlegm-resolving medicine |
Full course |
9 |
Rhizoma fagopyri cymosi |
Antipyretic detoxifying |
Full course |
10 |
Tamaricis cacumen |
Pungent-warm exterior-releasing medicine |
Early |
11 |
Erigeron breviscapus |
Pungent-warm exterior-releasing medicine |
Early |
12 |
Radix bupleuri |
Pungent cool diaphoretics |
Early |
13 |
Coptidis rhizoma |
Heat-clearing and dampness drying medicine |
Middle |
14 |
Houttuyniae herba |
Antipyretic-detoxifying |
Middle |
15 |
Hoveniae dulcis semen |
Antipyretic-detoxifying |
Middle |
16 |
Inulae flos |
Phlegm resolving medicine |
Middle |
17 |
Eriobotryae folium |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Middle and later |
18 |
Hedysarum multijugum maxim. |
Qi-reinforcing |
Middle and later |
19 |
Lepidii semen descurainiae semen |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Middle and later |
20 |
Ardisiae japonicae herba |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Middle and later |
21 |
Asteris radix et rhizoma |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Middle and later |
22 |
Euphorbiae helioscopiae herba |
Diuretic dampness-excreting |
Middle and later |
23 |
Ginkgo semen |
Antitussive antiasthmatics |
Middle and later |
24 |
Anemarrhenae rhizoma |
Fire-purging |
Later |
25 |
Epimrdii herba |
Yang-reinforcing |
Later |
26 |
Fortunes bossfern rhizome |
Warming interior |
Prevention |
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