Symptoms of Corona Virus
Things we don’t yet know about the coronavirus
It has been only three months since reports first emerged from China of an unknown virus causing unusual cases of pneumonia, and scientists and public health experts already know more about it and how it works than at the same point in earlier outbreaks.
But there's still a lot they don't know.
As the new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, here are some of the most important questions researchers and doctors – as well as policymakers and economists – are still trying to answer:
How contagious is the virus?
The virus spreads from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth via coughing or sneezing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It can persist on most surfaces up to several days, so in addition to directly inhaling the virus, you can become infected by touching something that has been contaminated and then touching your own nose, mouth or eyes. There is some evidence that virus particles in the feces of an infected person can transmit the disease through contact, but that remains unconfirmed.
Are younger people less likely to die from the virus?
Younger people, while less vulnerable, can still develop COVID-19 - the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus - severe enough to require hospitalization. Just how much safer they are is still unanswered. The WHO says older people with pre-existing conditions - such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease - appear to develop serious illness more often than others, while a U.S. health official said the mortality rate in males appears to be twice that of women in every age group. Health officials have cautioned that anyone with those underlying conditions, as well as those with weakened immune systems, are at increased risk.
Can people be re-infected?
This is a key question – and we don't yet know the answer. There are a handful of cases of possible "reinfection" in recovered patients. But most scientists believe those are more likely to have been relapses. A patient may feel better and test negative for the virus in their nose and throat, while the virus remains elsewhere in their body. Fully recovered patients have antibodies in their blood that should protect them from fresh infection, but we don't know how long those antibodies will last. With some viruses, antibodies fade faster. Even if they do persist, SARS-CoV-2 might undergo small changes over time, as flu viruses do each year, rendering the antibodies ineffective.
Several academic laboratories and medical companies are looking to produce blood tests to figure out who has been exposed to the virus and whether some people have developed immunity. Serological testing will also give a better picture of the full extent of the pandemic.
Does the amount of exposure to the virus determine how sick someone gets?
Viruses enter the body and infect cells, using them as factories to make many millions of copies of themselves, so the number of virus particles that first enter the body has little effect on the eventual amount of virus in the system. At the same time, more frequent exposure does increase the chance that the virus will enter the body in the first place.
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