Covid discoveries: what we know now about the coronavirus that we did not know before
More than one and a half years have passed since the coronavirus infection appeared in our lives. During this time, a lot has changed. Here's what we've learned about COVID-19, from how it spreads to its health effects. Human understanding of this disease has changed in some aspects. Writes about this The Guardian.
How COVID-19 Spreads
When COVID-19 first hit the UK, sales of hand sanitiser also increased. On February 28, Boris Johnson said: “The best thing people can do to prevent the spread of coronavirus is wash their hands.”
In part, this was due to the belief that one of the main ways that COVID-19 spreads is by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching their own face. Then many people began to worry about whether food and parcels needed to be disinfected.
But experts now argue that the role of tiny virus-containing particles called aerosols, which are released along with larger droplets when infected people breathe, speak, or cough, have been ignored. And that indoor ventilation is critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19.
“It is now generally accepted that aerosol transmission is more important than hand-to-hand or contact transmission,” said Dr Julian Tang, consultant virologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary. “The situation has changed dramatically from the initial emphasis on hand washing.”
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Although contaminated surfaces are still flagged by the World Health Organization as a likely route of transmission, there is little evidence for this.
“Despite consistent evidence of surface contamination by Sars-CoV-2 and virus survival on certain surfaces, there are no specific reports that directly indicate such transmission,” the WHO said.
However, Professor Julian Hiscox, chair of the Department of Infections and Global Health at the University of Liverpool, who is a member of the government's advisory group on new and emerging respiratory viruses (Nervtag), said that despite growing evidence that aerosols matter, it is still likely that the virus can be spread by direct contact with infected people or a surface onto which an infected person sneezed, so hand washing remains important.
Masks
Many experts and politicians disagreed with people wearing face masks at the start of the pandemic.
“The first thing is that people have started making their own masks out of clothes or things like that, which don't really provide much protection,” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on April 16 last year. “Secondly, the way people remove it can sometimes cause reinfection. Third, it may lull you into a false sense of security.”
However, support for masks has grown as evidence has accumulated for their benefits: many scientists now say they help trap virus-containing droplets and particles emitted by infected hosts, and some even claim they offer some protection against infection to healthy hosts. However, how effective they are depends on the type of mask, its size and what it is made of.
“My view on wearing masks has changed a lot because they really reduce the amount of aerosol particles,” Hiscox said. “I’m more than happy to admit that at the beginning of last year I thought washing my hands was more important than wearing a mask, but now, yes, I do think well-fitting masks make a difference.”
Nature of the disease
Initially, the common perception of COVID-19 was that it was only a respiratory infection, but as the pandemic escalated, it became apparent that other organs could be directly or indirectly affected.
The researchers found cases of blood clots, brain inflammation, delirium, stroke, heart abnormalities, and liver and kidney damage among COVID-19 patients.
Symptoms can persist for months after initial infection, a condition called long COVID-19. While brain fog and fatigue are among the problems commonly reported, one study published last month found that long COVID-19 had more than 200 symptoms. However, experts noted that long COVID-19 is a catch-all term and can reflect more than one syndrome. It also turns out that women suffer from it more often than men.
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Speaking to the Lords Committee on Science and Technology in September, Chris Brightling, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester who is leading the Phosp-Covid study on the long-term effects of the disease, said scans from the Phos study revealed a broader physiological impact of COVID-19. ...
“Organ damage was found - kidneys, liver, lungs and heart, and to a lesser extent the brain. After two months, it affects more than a third of people, he said. “We're really getting a lot of clues that there are processes going on in multiple organs because of a disease that initially starts as a respiratory infection.”
Asymptomatic carriers
The importance of asymptomatic infection in the spread of COVID-19 is increasingly recognized. While estimates vary, the UK government now states that one in three people infected with COVID-19 will not develop symptoms.
Rapid tests were provided free of charge in April to help identify such infections, although some experts questioned the accuracy of the tests and the lack of attention given to supporting those quarantined. But earlier, during the pandemic, when only PCR testing was available, the situation was completely different.
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