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A good, easy to understand and humane article by Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu in the midst of the Corona storm
Posted date 11/02/2020
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Posted date 11/02/2020
11.637 view
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We doctors are also human, so we are all afraid of illness, of sudden death that can happen to us and our loved ones. In the past few days, the images of Wuhan medical staff fighting the epidemic with all their might have had the strongest impact on us.
We doctors are also human, so we are all afraid of illness, of sudden death that can happen to us and our loved ones. In the past few days, the images of Wuhan medical staff fighting the epidemic with all their might have had the strongest impact on us.
I am not an infectious disease specialist, nor am I a member of the epidemic prevention steering committee, so when I was invited to write about the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, I was very hesitant. However, after reading too much information about the epidemic, I decided to write to contribute to the fight against this terrible Corona virus.
As experts have analyzed, epidemics are not a rare anomaly in human history, we can even consider them a part of life. The 1976 Ebola epidemic affected 33,000 people and the mortality rate was 40%. In 1998, Nipah infected 500 people, but the mortality rate was up to 78%. In 2002, the SARS epidemic infected 8,000 people, and the mortality rate was 7% - 9%. In 2012, MERS infected about 2,500 people with a fairly high mortality rate of about 34%.
As for this Tet, the Corona virus (same family as the virus that causes SARS and MERS) has infected more than 4,500 people as of January 28, killing 106 people. That means the death rate is less than 3%. Another special thing compared to other pandemics is that after only 10 days, from the first case of infection being detected, scientists have decoded the entire genome of the Corona virus.
Just like fighting the enemy, our army knows all their forces and equipment, so we will definitely find a way to fight and destroy them. I say this so that you can understand that the world health system has been, is and will be working urgently and scientifically to prevent the spread of this epidemic.
However, science always has its limits and the opposite information is also very important for us to pay attention and take note of. That is, it took nearly four months for SARS to infect 1,000 people. Meanwhile, the Corona virus in Wuhan has infected more than 4,500 people in just one month. Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed and the latest research has increased concerns by showing that this new virus can be transmitted even when the patient has not yet shown symptoms of the disease - in the incubation period. This could be a factor that increases the dangerous infectiousness of this virus.
The most noteworthy thing about this epidemic is the "massive" involvement of "reporters" from professional to spontaneous. Every corner is touched, dissected, and commented on.
Many people have criticized this as not good, causing confusion for the people, but I still see a positive perspective. With a problem that we used to leave to the responsible agencies to handle, all information was from a single source, today, with the development of social networks, information about the epidemic has reached people in many ways. On the positive side, they said that the first Corona patient discovered in Vietnam had recovered, or they condemned the increase in mask prices, criticized a monk who persuaded people to make offerings to kill the virus.
Not long ago, someone in my family got influenza A and had to buy Tamiflu "hand-carried". I just realized the suffering of the people because of the profiteering of unscrupulous people. When there was an epidemic, the price of medicine doubled and continued to increase. Working in the medical field, we had to ask acquaintances for help to buy a few pills. But because there was not enough medicine, everyone in the family had to run around and buy a little at a time to have enough doses for the following days.
I found out that the reason why they increased the price of medicine was not because the manufacturer increased the selling price. The import price remained the same, but some retailers increased the price, taking advantage of seeing many people suddenly get sick, seeing others in difficult situations.
No law can deal with the human heart, no government can punish all unethical behavior by law, we are no longer living in the subsidy period when the smart ones are poor. But today, I believe that the power of the media and the majority of people who agree with the right will bring the dark minds to light or solve the difficult problems of the community.
Without waiting for the Ministry of Health's announcement, over a cup of coffee this morning, I was informed that the 106th death of this epidemic occurred on the morning of January 26. The concern of the whole society with an increasingly improved level of understanding is a positive thing, quite different from the SARS epidemic in 2003, when our medical profession was relatively alone in fighting the epidemic with a very high mortality rate.
Because every move is monitored, any excessive or negligent decision by the authorities will be "dissected" and "posted online". The clearest evidence is that the World Health Organization has just admitted errors in its global risk assessment of the Corona virus in China, and had to reaffirm the danger level at "high" rather than just "moderate".
To limit the spread of the disease, it is extremely important to understand the information so that you can take appropriate action. I would like to quote the source of expert Nguyen Hong Vu (California, USA) that I find the easiest to understand to help reduce the epidemic situation: Diseases caused by Corona virus infection will usually go away on their own when immune cells recognize their presence in the body and attack infected cells. The virus will be completely destroyed by immune cells until the end of the disease.
Therefore, the most effective way to prevent the epidemic that countries are doing with this virus is to "isolate" the infected person/group of people to support treatment, not giving the virus the opportunity to infect other people. Because it cannot survive in the environment and can no longer stay in the patient's body (because the immune system has recognized it), the virus will be completely destroyed in this isolated space when the sick people recover.
Therefore, in the context of the 2019-nCoV Corona virus epidemic, isolation is especially important. Suspending flights and tours of Chinese people, especially from Wuhan, during this time is very necessary to control the epidemic locally and in neighboring countries. The incubation period of this virus is believed to be from about 2 to 14 days. During this period, the patient has no obvious symptoms and is very susceptible to passing through epidemic control stations. The way to prevent infection for each of us in the coming days or at least until the authorities declare the end of the epidemic is: avoid crowded places; wash hands regularly with soap, alcohol-based sanitizers; avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; avoid close contact with sick people; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces; eat well-cooked food, drink boiled water that has been cooled; stay healthy to "fight the virus if necessary".
Three weeks ago, my colleagues and I at Hanoi Medical University Hospital proactively trained on the Corona virus with the sharing of experiences from experts who directly treated the SARS epidemic in 2003. The touching stories of fighting SARS that my senior colleagues shared with the young doctors and nurses that day were not to show off their bravery but to teach us experiences and painful mistakes that no one wants to repeat. Looking into the eyes of that team, I am very confident that with the knowledge we have been equipped with, with more modern means and especially with the unanimous support of the community like you, we are ready to "welcome the enemy" that is coming.
The wish to go home for Tet of the doctor who had been on duty for five consecutive nights at a hospital in Wuhan touched the hearts of us doctors - because each of us understands that we could also be in that situation. No one wants an outbreak, but fighting the epidemic is the responsibility and duty of medical staff everywhere. If the epidemic becomes a global pandemic, I know there will be no shortage of Vietnamese volunteer doctors going to the epicenter. On the contrary, the edited images and fake news that are spread irresponsibly do not scare any of us because we are too familiar with rumors.
Our entire medical industry is ready to "fight" this extremely dangerous troublemaker.
I am not an infectious disease specialist, nor am I a member of the epidemic prevention steering committee, so when I was invited to write about the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, I was very hesitant. However, after reading too much information about the epidemic, I decided to write to contribute to the fight against this terrible Corona virus.
As experts have analyzed, epidemics are not a rare anomaly in human history, we can even consider them a part of life. The 1976 Ebola epidemic affected 33,000 people and the mortality rate was 40%. In 1998, Nipah infected 500 people, but the mortality rate was up to 78%. In 2002, the SARS epidemic infected 8,000 people, and the mortality rate was 7% - 9%. In 2012, MERS infected about 2,500 people with a fairly high mortality rate of about 34%.
As for this Tet, the Corona virus (same family as the virus that causes SARS and MERS) has infected more than 4,500 people as of January 28, killing 106 people. That means the death rate is less than 3%. Another special thing compared to other pandemics is that after only 10 days, from the first case of infection being detected, scientists have decoded the entire genome of the Corona virus.
Just like fighting the enemy, our army knows all their forces and equipment, so we will definitely find a way to fight and destroy them. I say this so that you can understand that the world health system has been, is and will be working urgently and scientifically to prevent the spread of this epidemic.
However, science always has its limits and the opposite information is also very important for us to pay attention and take note of. That is, it took nearly four months for SARS to infect 1,000 people. Meanwhile, the Corona virus in Wuhan has infected more than 4,500 people in just one month. Human-to-human transmission has been confirmed and the latest research has increased concerns by showing that this new virus can be transmitted even when the patient has not yet shown symptoms of the disease - in the incubation period. This could be a factor that increases the dangerous infectiousness of this virus.
The most noteworthy thing about this epidemic is the "massive" involvement of "reporters" from professional to spontaneous. Every corner is touched, dissected, and commented on.
Many people have criticized this as not good, causing confusion for the people, but I still see a positive perspective. With a problem that we used to leave to the responsible agencies to handle, all information was from a single source, today, with the development of social networks, information about the epidemic has reached people in many ways. On the positive side, they said that the first Corona patient discovered in Vietnam had recovered, or they condemned the increase in mask prices, criticized a monk who persuaded people to make offerings to kill the virus.
Not long ago, someone in my family got influenza A and had to buy Tamiflu "hand-carried". I just realized the suffering of the people because of the profiteering of unscrupulous people. When there was an epidemic, the price of medicine doubled and continued to increase. Working in the medical field, we had to ask acquaintances for help to buy a few pills. But because there was not enough medicine, everyone in the family had to run around and buy a little at a time to have enough doses for the following days.
I found out that the reason why they increased the price of medicine was not because the manufacturer increased the selling price. The import price remained the same, but some retailers increased the price, taking advantage of seeing many people suddenly get sick, seeing others in difficult situations.
No law can deal with the human heart, no government can punish all unethical behavior by law, we are no longer living in the subsidy period when the smart ones are poor. But today, I believe that the power of the media and the majority of people who agree with the right will bring the dark minds to light or solve the difficult problems of the community.
Without waiting for the Ministry of Health's announcement, over a cup of coffee this morning, I was informed that the 106th death of this epidemic occurred on the morning of January 26. The concern of the whole society with an increasingly improved level of understanding is a positive thing, quite different from the SARS epidemic in 2003, when our medical profession was relatively alone in fighting the epidemic with a very high mortality rate.
Because every move is monitored, any excessive or negligent decision by the authorities will be "dissected" and "posted online". The clearest evidence is that the World Health Organization has just admitted errors in its global risk assessment of the Corona virus in China, and had to reaffirm the danger level at "high" rather than just "moderate".
To limit the spread of the disease, it is extremely important to understand the information so that you can take appropriate action. I would like to quote the source of expert Nguyen Hong Vu (California, USA) that I find the easiest to understand to help reduce the epidemic situation: Diseases caused by Corona virus infection will usually go away on their own when immune cells recognize their presence in the body and attack infected cells. The virus will be completely destroyed by immune cells until the end of the disease.
Therefore, the most effective way to prevent the epidemic that countries are doing with this virus is to "isolate" the infected person/group of people to support treatment, not giving the virus the opportunity to infect other people. Because it cannot survive in the environment and can no longer stay in the patient's body (because the immune system has recognized it), the virus will be completely destroyed in this isolated space when the sick people recover.
Therefore, in the context of the 2019-nCoV Corona virus epidemic, isolation is especially important. Suspending flights and tours of Chinese people, especially from Wuhan, during this time is very necessary to control the epidemic locally and in neighboring countries. The incubation period of this virus is believed to be from about 2 to 14 days. During this period, the patient has no obvious symptoms and is very susceptible to passing through epidemic control stations. The way to prevent infection for each of us in the coming days or at least until the authorities declare the end of the epidemic is: avoid crowded places; wash hands regularly with soap, alcohol-based sanitizers; avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands; avoid close contact with sick people; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces; eat well-cooked food, drink boiled water that has been cooled; stay healthy to "fight the virus if necessary".
Three weeks ago, my colleagues and I at Hanoi Medical University Hospital proactively trained on the Corona virus with the sharing of experiences from experts who directly treated the SARS epidemic in 2003. The touching stories of fighting SARS that my senior colleagues shared with the young doctors and nurses that day were not to show off their bravery but to teach us experiences and painful mistakes that no one wants to repeat. Looking into the eyes of that team, I am very confident that with the knowledge we have been equipped with, with more modern means and especially with the unanimous support of the community like you, we are ready to "welcome the enemy" that is coming.
The wish to go home for Tet of the doctor who had been on duty for five consecutive nights at a hospital in Wuhan touched the hearts of us doctors - because each of us understands that we could also be in that situation. No one wants an outbreak, but fighting the epidemic is the responsibility and duty of medical staff everywhere. If the epidemic becomes a global pandemic, I know there will be no shortage of Vietnamese volunteer doctors going to the epicenter. On the contrary, the edited images and fake news that are spread irresponsibly do not scare any of us because we are too familiar with rumors.
Our entire medical industry is ready to "fight" this extremely dangerous troublemaker.
Doctor Nguyen Lan Hieu
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