100 Questions & Answers About Coronaviruses

Description

An Affordable Resource For Any Undergraduate or Graduate-level Nursing or Public Health Course Covering COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has staked its claim as the deadliest worldwide respiratory disease outbreak in over 100 years. But what exactly is this new, highly contagious virus? Where did it come from, and how has it spread so quickly? 100 Questions & Answers About Coronaviruses answers these questions and more in an easy-to-read format. This timely book organizes and distills cutting-edge information and data on COVID-19 in a single, convenient resource. Featuring a foreword by Dr. Aaron Glatt, Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, and Chairman and Chief of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Long Island, 100 Questions & Answers About Coronaviruses begins with a historical overview and examines myths about coronaviruses. It progresses to answer questions about how COVID-19 affects children and adults, current vaccine research, quarantine, social distancing, preventing future pandemics, and other frequently asked questions. 100 Questions & Answers About Coronaviruses is an invaluable resource for every nursing or public health student and a must-read for anyone interested in learning about the virus that has reshaped our daily lives. Organized in an easy-to-read question and answer format Provides cutting-edge information and data on coronaviruses, including how they spread and how to protect against them Includes historical overview of coronaviruses and how three new coronaviruses that infect humans (SARS, MERS, and COVID-19) emerged in the 21st century An affordable resource for any undergraduate or graduate-level Nursing or Public Health course covering COVID-19. Also an ideal resource for medical professionals or non-medical individuals looking for information on the COVID-19 novel coronavirus and global pandemic. Title Page......Page 2 Copyright Page......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 Foreword......Page 9 About the Author......Page 11 Part 1: A Primer on Coronaviruses......Page 12 1. What is a coronavirus? Isn’t it just a bad form of the flu?......Page 13 2. What does the word “coronavirus” mean?......Page 15 3. When was the first coronavirus identified?......Page 16 4. What are the seven coronaviruses that cause human infections?......Page 17 5. How did COVID-19 get its name?......Page 18 6. What do the acronyms SARS and MERS stand for?......Page 19 7. What are the symptoms of COVID-19?......Page 21 8. Are some populations or ethnic groups more likely to have severe COVID-19 than others?......Page 23 9. Why did COVID-19 become a pandemic?......Page 25 10. Are there any other reasons to explain why COVID-19 became a pandemic?......Page 26 11. What role do droplets play in the transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses?......Page 27 12. Do face masks really work as a public health measure? Do they help control the spread of a pandemic virus?......Page 29 Part 2: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions......Page 31 13. How do we know this coronavirus came from a bat? Is it possible that COVID-19 was made in a lab?......Page 32 14. Do all pandemic viruses originate in China?......Page 35 15. Can cats or dogs spread COVID-19 virus to people?......Page 36 16. What is hydroxychloroquine? Is it effective against COVID-19?......Page 38 17. Is it safe to wear a mask? Will wearing one make me sick from breathing my own exhaled CO2?......Page 40 18. Are the terms asymptomatic and presymptomatic just two sides of the same coin? It seems like they mean the same thing.......Page 42 19. Are men more likely to have poor outcomes than women with COVID-19?......Page 44 20. Didn’t hot weather kill SARS? So shouldn’t warm weather also destroy the virus that causes COVID-19?......Page 46 Part 3: Understanding Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics......Page 47 21. What is the difference between an outbreak, an epidemic, and a pandemic?......Page 48 22. Does the word epidemic refer only to infectious diseases?......Page 49 23. What do epidemiologists mean when they say we need to “flatten the curve”?......Page 50 24. What is “herd immunity”? Could herd immunity have prevented COVID-19 from spreading?......Page 51 25. What is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern?......Page 53 26. Does the World Health Organization determine when an epidemic becomes a pandemic?......Page 54 27. What were the major pandemics of the 20th century?......Page 55 28. How have U.S. presidents responded to pandemics?......Page 57 29. Did the 1918 pandemic occur in waves? If so, how many waves were there?......Page 60 30. Do individual U.S. states have pandemic plans?......Page 61 31. Is it true that epidemics are inevitable, but pandemics are avoidable?......Page 62 32. If China’s government had not forced the Wuhan whistleblower to claim that COVID-19 was a rumor, could a pandemic have been avoided?......Page 63 Part 4: Children and Coronaviruses......Page 64 33. How vulnerable are children to COVID-19?......Page 65 34. What are the symptoms of COVID-19 in children?......Page 68 35. Are children hospitalized for COVID-19?......Page 69 36. Are babies affected by COVID-19?......Page 71 37. What are some of the complications of COVID-19 in children?......Page 72 38. Does exposure to common cold viruses help lessen the severity of COVID-19?......Page 74 39. Are children and young adults silent spreaders of SARS-CoV-2?......Page 75 40. What was the point of closing schools if kids mostly get mild or asymptomatic infections?......Page 76 41. Is there a way to open schools safely during a pandemic?......Page 78 42. What can preschools do to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection?......Page 79 43. Can SARS-CoV-2 be transmitted in the food or beverages that my child consumes?......Page 81 Part 5: Coronavirus Infection: Immunity, Aging, and Disease Spread......Page 82 44. What basics should I know about the immune system?......Page 83 45. What are cytokines, and what do they do?......Page 88 46. How do cytokines and other immune components cause severe COVID-19?......Page 89 47. What is the adaptive immune system, and why is it important?......Page 91 48. What are T cells, and what do they do?......Page 93 49. How important are B cells?......Page 95 50. How important are antibodies?......Page 96 51. How serious is COVID-19 for people 65 and older?......Page 97 52. Why does the immune system decline with age?......Page 99 53. Is there a condition in adults that is comparable to MIS-C in children?......Page 100 54. Does herd immunity protect people who are 65 and older?......Page 101 55. Do coronaviruses that cause the common cold trigger seasonal infections in older adults?......Page 103 56. Why are nursing home residents at such high risk of COVID-19?......Page 104 57. Were cruise ships vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks because passengers tend to be older?......Page 106 Part 6: Viruses 101: Superspreaders, Long Haulers, and Testing......Page 107 58. What is a virus?......Page 108 59. What are the key features of a pandemic virus?......Page 111 60. What is an RNA virus?......Page 113 61. How did viruses evolve?......Page 116 62. What does mutation mean, and do mutations mean that SARS-CoV-2 is likely to get worse?......Page 117 63. Where in the body does SARS-CoV-2 proliferate most?......Page 119 64. Are superspreaders and superspreader events real?......Page 121 65. Will SARS-CoV-2 become endemic?......Page 124 66. What is “long COVID”? Does the virus linger for months?......Page 125 67. Is SARS-CoV-2 reinfection possible?......Page 127 68. What is contact tracing and does it help lower rates of infection?......Page 128 69. How do I know if I have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2?......Page 129 70. What is an antibody test?......Page 130 71. What is a rapid antigen test?......Page 131 72. What is a PCR test and how does it detect SARS-CoV-2?......Page 132 Part 7: Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Convalescent Plasma......Page 134 73. What is a vaccine?......Page 135 74. How many COVID-19 vaccines exist?......Page 138 75. What is an mRNA vaccine?......Page 140 76. If there are mRNA vaccines, do DNA vaccines exist?......Page 143 77. Why were COVID-19 vaccine trials suspended?......Page 144 78. Can the tuberculosis vaccine prevent COVID-19?......Page 145 79. What is an antibody cocktail? Is it a vaccine?......Page 147 80. Is convalescent plasma a solution to COVID-19?......Page 148 81. Are antibodies from llamas a treatment for COVID-19?......Page 149 82. What is remdesivir, and how does it work?......Page 150 83. Is wearing a mask equivalent to being vaccinated?......Page 151 Part 8: Pandemic Preparedness: Quarantine and Virus Tracking......Page 152 84. Why is pandemic planning important?......Page 153 85. Has the COVID-19 pandemic produced lessons for future pandemic planning?......Page 156 86. What is the Strategic National Stockpile?......Page 158 87. Does a Biden administration portend a return to pandemic planning and evidenced-based public health?......Page 160 88. Is forced vaccination written into pandemic preparedness plans?......Page 161 89. Are there any pandemic preparedness lessons from the 1918 influenza pandemic?......Page 163 90. What is self-quarantine? Is that an old-school measure?......Page 164 91. Does the U.S. government have “quarantine powers” to evaluate foreign visitors for potential pandemic infections?......Page 165 92. I don’t remember masks or social distancing ever being recommended. Is this new to pandemic preparedness?......Page 166 93. Are coronaviruses the only types of infectious agents likely to cause pandemics now that COVID-19 has emerged?......Page 167 94. Is surveillance for potential pandemic viruses a way to stop pandemics before they start?......Page 168 Part 9: Guarding Your Health......Page 169 95. Is it a good idea to consider getting vaccinated against COVID-19?......Page 170 96. How can you tell if “health information” is disinformation? Is disinformation dangerous?......Page 171 97. What is the right way to wear a mask?......Page 175 98. Are masks with air valves a good choice?......Page 176 99. What is cough hygiene? What is hand hygiene?......Page 177 100. Is having a family pandemic plan a good idea?......Page 179 Glossary......Page 180 Index......Page 196