Thread by @AlbertDomingo

Should I be alarmed that there is a 'suspected' 2019 #nCoV case in a hospital near me?

Short answer: Be aware, but stay calm. It may or may not be 2019-nCoV.

(a thread - 1 of 10)

Health workers follow a protocol to care for patients who may have 2019-nCoV. There are three labels: suspect, probable, and confirmed case. Health workers have to carefully find out which one they are dealing with. It may or may not be 2019-nCoV. (2/10)

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. (3/10)

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses like the usual cough and colds to MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. (4/10)

One kind of SUSPECT case is any patient with -severe- fever and/or cough, who has to be admitted to hospital, AND which cannot be explained, AND with travel or residence in Wuhan within the past 14 days, or who cared for patients with SARI that cannot be explained. (5/10)

Another kind of SUSPECT case is any patient with acute resp illness (fever, cough), AND within the past 14 days: close contact with a confirmed or probable case of 2019-nCoV, -or- been to a live animal market in Wuhan, -or- been to a facility with 2019-nCoV patients. (6/10)

The hospital will get sputum, throat swab, or other respiratory tract specimens from a suspect case and then subject the specimens to a pan-coronavirus assay (test). If this test turns out positive, the patient will then be labeled as a PROBABLE case of 2019-nCoV. (7/10)

The hospital will, assisted by DOH and WHO, send the specimen of the PROBABLE case to a laboratory that can look for the genome (gene sequence) of 2019-nCoV. If this test turns out to be positive, then the patient will be labeled as a CONFIRMED case of 2019-nCoV. (8/10)

At present there is NO laboratory in the Philippines that can do this confirmatory test; the specimen is sent abroad (recently, to a lab in Australia). (9/10)

[Source: WHO interim guidance, global surveillance for human infection with novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

URL: who.int/publications-d…

More info: who.int/health-topics/…]

(end of thread - 10/10)