Traveling to Europe next week

Risky business

by Gotrhythm - 2020-03-09 16:22:18

Just having a pacemaker does not make you either more or less suseptible to any communicable disease. It doesn't make any communicable disease more dangerous for you to catch. A pacemaker does not in itself put you in the "at risk" category.

The underlying heart condition that caused you to need a pacemaker--that's a different question.

Being old, having heart disease, lung disases--that's what makes you "at risk."

If I had tickets to the Azores, I'd go.

Some good data and food for thought

by crustyg - 2020-03-10 13:59:51

https://www.bmj.com/coronavirus and select the video under 'What we currently understand about the virus' some way down the page - focus on 8min 4sec in.  He's talking about the reduced risk of contracting Influenza A by frequent hand-washing, but it's pretty clear that there are similar benefits for the current Coronavirus outbreak (especially as we suspect that *some* patients are ingesting it into their mouths - exactly how one contracts Norovirus, another big issue on some cruises - someone else's faecal material gets into your mouth!).  (can also be vomitus, but that's less common).

And if *you* feel that you're coming down with a cold, please don't go out.  Early symptoms of the infection can be as mild as a simple cold - and in fact not even having the classic runny nose for some.

Basic personal hygyiene + luck.

coronavirus

by AgentX86 - 2020-03-10 14:35:20

Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, so isn't passed in fecal matter. It has been shown to propagate through the air though the primary mode is hand to mouth or nose. It will live outside the host for at least nine days, which complicates things immensely. I'm really surprised that they haven't started closing down salad bars and buffets in affected areas.

It's not even necessary to have any symptoms to pass the virus on. With the coronavirus, a "typhoid Marry" is a real possibility.

All the above said, i think the whole thing is overblown. We weren't panicked by SARS, MERS, or even Ebola the way we are with coronavirus.

I don't entirely agree

by crustyg - 2020-03-10 17:16:01

The coronavirus types causing SARS and MERS are respiratory only.  The agent that causes Covid-19 *appears* to have dual transmission - it's really quite different to the other coronavirus types that we currently know to cause disease in humans.

Diarrhoea is a documented case feature in 8% of patients from a series in China starting in late 2019 (3 of 62 patients, all lab proven to have the new coronovirus causing Covid-19).

I *do* agree that the current reporting of the disease seems to be fuelling panic in some quarters.  Italy has one of the oldest populations in the EU, and it's clear that patient mortality is heavily controlled by a) pre-existing disease, b) age >70 or worse, >80.

In otherwise healthy populations, overall mortality appears to be less than Influenza A (0.84% for Covid-19 versus 1% for Influenza A).

{update}

https://www.bmj.com/coronavirus 'What we currently understand about the virus' video, 13min in he discusses GI tract symptoms and faecal excretion of virus in some coronavirus.  Hand washing is still the answer.