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News:Scientist has said that the mysterious respiratory illness that has affected dozens of people in a Chinese city may be caused by a new coronavirus.
Facts:
About Coronavirus:
- A coronavirus is a common form of virus that typically causes upper-respiratory tract illness.The infections can range from common cold to others causing severe respiratory and intestinal diseases.
- Human coronaviruses(HCoV) were first identified in the 1960s in the noses of patients with the common cold.
- There are six different kinds of coronavirus which are known to infect humans.Four of these are common and most people will experience at least one of them at some time in their life.
- The two other types causes SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which are less common but far more deadly.
Symptoms:
- The common human coronaviruses usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses like the common cold.
- However,other human coronaviruses such as MERS and SARS have known to cause severe symptoms such as cough, fever, shortness of breath which often lead to pneumonia.
Transmission:
- These viruses can be spread from an infected person to others through the air by coughing or sneezing, close personal contact like shaking hands and touching an object or surface with the virus on it.However,it rarely spread through faecal contamination.
Treatment:
- There are no specific treatments for illnesses or diseases caused by coronaviruses which means there is no cure for a coronavirus infection.
