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COVID-19 detected in United States

WesL

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The first US case has been detected in Washington State. The rapidly spreading respiratory virus began at a market in Wuhan, China and had spread to four other countries. The virus is suspected to have been transmitted from an animal to a human and now human to human. It is considered highly contagious but how it is exactly transferred human to human hasn't been determined. In one report a Chinese patient infected 14 medical staff that were caring for them.

The patient in Washington State is quoted as "quite ill" and had recently traveled to Wuhan. They were hospitalized shortly after their return to the United States and the presence of the virus was found in their lab results over the weekend.

The World Health Organization meets tomorrow to consider if this is an international public health emergency.

 
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Lori

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I really want a Hazmat suit! Things like this freak me out!!
 

KoD

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I find it particularly amazing how the CDC and disease prevention centers in other countries are able to identify and track a novel infection so early on. It's absolutely necessary to continue that level of awareness because pandemics are a huge threat to our growing population.
Keep in mind though that the common flu kills 12k-60k US citizens each year, depending on the year. Anyone here reading is substantially more likely to perish from a known pathogenic disease process than something like this Wuhan Coronavirus. That's all thanks to the diligent work of the CDC, WHO and other organizations. Without them these contagious diseases would pose a quicker and bigger threat. Of course sometimes we get a SARS or MERS .. hopefully there's no Spanish Flu-like pandemics anytime soon and this new virus gets tamped down quickly.
 
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WesL

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CDC announces 2nd confirmed US case of Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Illinois, is monitoring 63 other potential US infections (source is AP but it is via a private newswire service that I can't link to)


I find it particularly amazing how the CDC and disease prevention centers in other countries are able to identify and track a novel infection so early on. It's absolutely necessary to continue that level of awareness because pandemics are a huge threat to our growing population.
Keep in mind though that the common flu kills 12k-60k US citizens each year, depending on the year. Anyone here reading is substantially more likely to perish from a known pathogenic disease process than something like this Wuhan Coronavirus. That's all thanks to the diligent work of the CDC, WHO and other organizations. Without them these contagious diseases would pose a quicker and bigger threat. Of course sometimes we get a SARS or MERS .. hopefully there's no Spanish Flu-like pandemics anytime soon and this new virus gets tamped down quickly.

Agreed @KoD, I'm always impressed with how fast the CDC and NIH are able to come up with rapid testing. I think that has also contributed to a lot to the effort to keep something like this under control as well.
 
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Jacob

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Perhaps I'm cynical, but given how things have gone so far in China (and we know their government is likely significantly underreporting things) and now this cruise ship in Japan, I have a hard time believing this virus doesn't reach every end of the globe to some extent.

If we've had 15 "confirmed" cases in the US, I'm inclined to think there's likely hundreds, or thousands, of actual cases walking around. I've been sick with some type of nasty cold the past couple weeks (ironically, symptoms hit 7-10 days after returning from California) and now my wife has the flu. Another patient was asking about the COVID-19 virus while I was at the doctor with my wife, and they basically said they'd have no way of knowing and would have to treat it like the flu, as they don't have a way of testing for it at the local level.
 

Lori

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I’m still confused to as was Anniston truly chosen to host those possibly infected from that cruise ship?
 
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WesL

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I’m still confused to as was Anniston truly chosen to host those possibly infected from that cruise ship?
Per a friend it was and that group was fully capable of handling it. Sad when we aren't using the resources that we have spent billions on for isolation and containment. I mean they handle nerve and chemical agents at the facility. Pretty sure they know what they are doing.

I'm curious if this will hurt them during the next Base Realignment and Closing Commission (BRAC) round of closures.
 

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Per a friend it was and that group was fully capable of handling it. Sad when we aren't using the resources that we have spent billions on for isolation and containment. I mean they handle nerve and chemical agents at the facility. Pretty sure they know what they are doing.

I'm curious if this will hurt them during the next Base Realignment and Closing Commission (BRAC) round of closures.
Anniston is a sinking ship city-wise, they have so many lawsuits against them concerning exposure to chemicals (not the Depot so far), the guy that brokered buying my first house had gone blind due to exposure. I don’t think there’s much of a future there.
The citizens have dealt with the Depot disposing dangerous chemicals (when I lived in Clay County, I’d get this nice brochure about how I need to shelter in place and/or evacuate and I was 30 mikes away) and then the other chemical exposure from a plant. I think they were just tired of being the dumping ground of dangerous exposures.
 
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WesL

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CDC has changed their wording a little to warn people to prepare for person to person exposure in the United States

What May Happen
More cases are likely to be identified in the coming days, including more cases in the United States. It’s also likely that person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in the United States. Widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States would translate into large numbers of people needing medical care at the same time. Schools, childcare centers, workplaces, and other places for mass gatherings may experience more absenteeism. Public health and healthcare systems may become overloaded, with elevated rates of hospitalizations and deaths. Other critical infrastructure, such as law enforcement, emergency medical services, and transportation industry may also be affected. Health care providers and hospitals may be overwhelmed. At this time, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications approved to treat it. Nonpharmaceutical interventions would be the most important response strategy.

 

Mike S

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It has affected the sports world in Asia. Several Olympic qualifying events have been postponed or may be postponed, and Formula 1 has also postponed the Chinese Grand Prix. The Grands Prix in Bahrain and Vietnam may be impacted as well.
 

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I can't bring myself to do the mask thing. Might try to telework more to avoid having to be on public transit twice a day and in the museum while tourist season picks up. I'm already an extremely paranoid handwasher but it might not be good enough.
 

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Maybe if the media covered the first death of the flu like they did the coronavirus, some of the morons in this country would get vaccinated and take hygienic precautions (I’ve seen that only 40% of Americans get vaccinated against it). It appears to me that coronavirus is not spreading nearly as effectively as seasonal influenza.

There’s some weird desire for humans to have fear and panic. We live in THE most prosperous and healthy period in human history. The hysteria is proving to be the most dangerous aspect of this.
 

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Maybe if the media covered the first death of the flu like they did the coronavirus, some of the morons in this country would get vaccinated and take hygienic precautions (I’ve seen that only 40% of Americans get vaccinated against it). It appears to me that coronavirus is not spreading nearly as effectively as seasonal influenza.

There’s some weird desire for humans to have fear and panic. We live in THE most prosperous and healthy period in human history. The hysteria is proving to be the most dangerous aspect of this.

I'm one of those morons that hasn't gotten the flu shot in nearly a decade now. If it was more effective, or was a vaccine with multi-year protection, I might/probably would do it. The last time I got the flu shot was around 2013-2014, don't remember which flu season. I felt like crap for 4 days after the shot, and then 2 months later got the flu. It's also the only time I've had the flu in the last decade.

I realize that I'm simply a statistical anomaly in the fact that I haven't had it in the years I've been un-vaccinated, and happened to catch it in the year I was vaccinated.

I think this COVID-19 is a classic case of the fear of the unknown vs. the fear of the known. We don't know that much about it, how easily it spreads, and what the true mortaility rate is. We also likely don't have any idea of the true number of cases, given the studies of how many people have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic with it, and that so few people (at least in this part of the world) are being tested for it. I do agree that in the end the worst part about it will likely be the panic/hysteria as opposed to the actual virus.
 

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I think this whole deal in Seattle proves how relatively minor this COVID-19 might end up being. They now believe it has been circulating in the Seattle area for up to 6 weeks, with possible hundreds if not thousands of cases in the area currently. People weren't being tested for it, and most likely didn't seek care anyways because it presents as a typical cold for most.

It is likely already like that in most major US cities.
 

KoD

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I'm one of those morons that hasn't gotten the flu shot in nearly a decade now. If it was more effective, or was a vaccine with multi-year protection, I might/probably would do it. The last time I got the flu shot was around 2013-2014, don't remember which flu season. I felt like crap for 4 days after the shot, and then 2 months later got the flu. It's also the only time I've had the flu in the last decade.

I realize that I'm simply a statistical anomaly in the fact that I haven't had it in the years I've been un-vaccinated, and happened to catch it in the year I was vaccinated.

I think this COVID-19 is a classic case of the fear of the unknown vs. the fear of the known. We don't know that much about it, how easily it spreads, and what the true mortaility rate is. We also likely don't have any idea of the true number of cases, given the studies of how many people have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic with it, and that so few people (at least in this part of the world) are being tested for it. I do agree that in the end the worst part about it will likely be the panic/hysteria as opposed to the actual virus.
My son got Flu A this year, which I thought was particularly odd seeing as how there was no contact with anyone who was apparently sick. He was home or playing in the backyard for a week prior to getting ill. Both me and mom work in the ER and I can only assume he got it from us even though neither of us were noticably infected - and even though he coughed several times in both of our faces for days, we never contracted influenza symptoms. Of course all three of us had the flu shot but his was different than ours being a pediatric version and that he's only had one in his lifetime. I can only assume one of us had the flu but with mild to no symptoms and inadvertently passed the virus on to him, who ended up being symptomatic.
If our immunity was from the vaccine I couldn't prove it, but I can't think of a better rationale. Point is that I believe me or my wife had immunity to the Influenza strain that effected our son from a past vaccine. I could only imagine without that suspected vaccine acquired immunity then we would have gotten sick too (or maybe him getting sicker than he did). With all the coughing and kisses, there's no doubt the virus got inside us and was somehow eliminated before becoming a burden.
Getting the flu shot is important not just for your own wellbeing but for others around you. If nobody got vaccinated then we'd infect many others when the symptoms that promote spread of the virus increase (coughing and sneezing). The flu shot may contain inactivated virus but it will still activate the immune system and cause cruddy feelings in some people. I don't often get the lethargy and congestion after a flu shot but I feel like it's worth it regardless if it keeps me from experiencing influenza. There's no telling how many times you or someone you know ended up avoiding the flu because a potential carrier was saved from spreading it because they got their flu shot. Although it didn't protect our kid this year, we both acquired an immunity at some point that kept us from getting sick and we were able to easily nurse him back to health.


Here a good TED Ed about the the flu vaccine:
 

Jacob

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My son got Flu A this year, which I thought was particularly odd seeing as how there was no contact with anyone who was apparently sick. He was home or playing in the backyard for a week prior to getting ill. Both me and mom work in the ER and I can only assume he got it from us even though neither of us were noticably infected - and even though he coughed several times in both of our faces for days, we never contracted influenza symptoms. Of course all three of us had the flu shot but his was different than ours being a pediatric version and that he's only had one in his lifetime. I can only assume one of us had the flu but with mild to no symptoms and inadvertently passed the virus on to him, who ended up being symptomatic.
If our immunity was from the vaccine I couldn't prove it, but I can't think of a better rationale. Point is that I believe me or my wife had immunity to the Influenza strain that effected our son from a past vaccine. I could only imagine without that suspected vaccine acquired immunity then we would have gotten sick too (or maybe him getting sicker than he did). With all the coughing and kisses, there's no doubt the virus got inside us and was somehow eliminated before becoming a burden.
Getting the flu shot is important not just for your own wellbeing but for others around you. If nobody got vaccinated then we'd infect many others when the symptoms that promote spread of the virus increase (coughing and sneezing). The flu shot may contain inactivated virus but it will still activate the immune system and cause cruddy feelings in some people. I don't often get the lethargy and congestion after a flu shot but I feel like it's worth it regardless if it keeps me from experiencing influenza. There's no telling how many times you or someone you know ended up avoiding the flu because a potential carrier was saved from spreading it because they got their flu shot. Although it didn't protect our kid this year, we both acquired an immunity at some point that kept us from getting sick and we were able to easily nurse him back to health.


Here a good TED Ed about the the flu vaccine:


I understand the logic and reasoning behind. I'm also just incredible stubborn.
 

Lori

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I’ve never had a flu shot, when I tried years ago, I was told I couldn’t because I was allergic to eggs and now they have to order a certain vaccine so I’ve quit worrying about it.
My daughter had Type A a few weeks ago and I took care of her. My three grands and son in law got on Elderberry. I already take Vit C and D plus a multiple vitamin before I started taking care of my daughter after I added Elderberry and L-Lysine as supplements and actually put Neosporin in my nose while I was there and took a “Silkwood Shower” when I got home and washed everything I’d worn!!
So far so good!! It’s going on 3 weeks!!
 

Lori

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Coronavirus has made it to GA...
 
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