Avoid humans: Coronavirus patient talks about disease on Facebook
The coronavirus outbreak has baffled scientists across the globe and they are struggling to come up with a vaccination. So far, COVID-19, the disease caused by the deadly virus, has taken more than 4,200 lives globally and infected nearly a lakh. At a time when world leaders only want to contain the menace, an infected woman's Facebook post on the disease went viral.
From China, virus spread globally
Having originated in China in December 2019, coronavirus spread to nearly 90 countries quickly. SARS-CoV-2 impacts a host's respiratory system, causing flu-like symptoms. Severe cases witness pneumonia, multiple organ failure, or in worst cases death. In India, over 50 cases have been reported and the state of Kerala has been shut down partially. Leaders have advised people against attending gatherings.
It's extremely easy to get infected, she asserted
As the fear of coronavirus is giving people sleepless nights, US-based Elizabeth Schneider revealed how she contracted the disease. It's extremely easy, she said. The popular opinion says one should stay away from sneezing and coughing people, but Elizabeth got infected at a small party where no one was sick. Just like her, 40% of attendees of the party also got infected.
Avoid humans to avoid the disease: Elizabeth
"The media tells you to wash your hands and avoid anyone with symptoms. I did. There is no way to avoid catching this except avoiding all other humans. 40% of folks were all sick within 3 days of attending the party," she wrote.
Symptoms depend on age, revealed Elizabeth
As per Elizabeth, the symptoms depend on one's age. "Most of my friends who got it were in their late 40s to early 50s. I'm in my mid-30s. For us it was a headache, fever (for first 3 days consistently and then on and off after 3 days), severe body aches and joint pain, and severe fatigue," she explained.
Her fever reached 103 degrees, then came down
While Elizabeth's fever spiked to 103 degrees initially, it came to 100 degrees the next day and dropped to 99.5 degrees eventually, some of her friends had diarrhea and felt nauseous. "Only a very few of us had a mild itchy cough. Very few had chest tightness or other respiratory symptoms. Total duration of illness was 10-16 days," she detailed in the post.
Elizabeth has defeated the disease, but is being cautious
Elizabeth got herself tested at Seattle Flu Study and she said that unless one reported cough, the authorities didn't conduct tests. "As of Monday, March 9th, it has been 13 days since my symptoms started and more than 72 hours since my fever subsided," she wrote. She is no longer prohibited from stepping out, but Elizabeth has chosen to stay away from gatherings.
Further, Elizabeth revealed what worked for her
"One thing that I believe may have saved me from getting worse respiratory symptoms is the fact that I consistently took Sudafed, used Afrin nasal spray (3 sprays in each nostril, 3 days at a time), and used Neti pot (with purified water)," she added.
Washing hands will not save you, warned Elizabeth
Concluding the verbose Facebook post, Elizabeth wrote washing hands regularly doesn't guarantee you won't get sick. "Especially when folks without symptoms are contagious and could be standing right next to you in any given social situation," she added. The post, in which she asked everyone to stay safe, got 21,000 shares and garnered 3,000 comments at the time of press.
