April 3, 2020
COVID-19, or commonly known to social media folks as “Miss Rona,” has taken over the world like nothing we have ever seen or heard in the 21st century. What does the general public need to know about COVID-19? We need to know how to recognize symptoms, what to do about symptoms and what we can do to prevent getting or spreading the infection.
Cough, fever, and shortness of breath are the common symptoms. COVID-19 spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or contaminated objects and surfaces if the droplets land on them. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure, with a median of 4-5 days. One can spread the infection to others even without having symptoms. This disease is very contagious.
Who to contact?
If you have symptoms mentioned above, do not go straight to the ED but contact:
Your primary care provider or
The Minnesota Department of Health’s public hotline: 651-201-3920 (Available 7 am-7 pm) or
9-1-1 if your symptoms are life-threatening and notify them your risk for having COVID-19
COVID-19 Severity
Symptoms can range from a cough, mild fever, sore throat, headache to more serious symptoms like shortness of breath requiring hospitalization or critical as breathing failure.
High-Risk people
People who are at a high risk of severe disease and/or death include people with diabetes, lung/heart/kidney/liver disease, immunocompromised and/or over age 65. People who smoke or vape are also at increased risk for severe disease due to inflammation.
Management
Mild/Moderate DIsease - If you have symptoms that can be managed at home, you can use fever-reducing medications like Tylenol/Ibuprofen for the fever and to reduce the headache and muscle aches. You can also use home remedies to soothe sore throats, such as tea with honey. The CDC has more resources here.
Severe/Critical Disease- Patients require hospitalization to get additional oxygen or for critical patients, breathing assistance from a machine called a ventilator. People with severe infections may also have kidney injury or super-infection from other microorganisms.
Treatment Trials
There are no FDA approved drugs for COVID-19. There are treatment trials underway for medications like antimalarials like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine or newer drugs like the antiviral remdesivir. Corticosteroids are being avoided in hospitalized patients as there is no conclusive data from this pandemic. People infected with previous coronaviruses, such as MERS, did worse when given steroids. There is also the controversial use of herbal remedies, but at this time there is no data supporting the use of herbal remedies to treat on COVID-19.
Prevent Getting/Spreading COVID19
Strictly follow shelter in home orders. Stay home if you are sick. Wash your hands more often. Avoid touching your face, especially your eyes, nose or mouth with unclean hands, as these are ways the virus can enter your body.
If you are sick with respiratory symptoms (cough, fever, muscle aches, sore throat or headache), stay home for at least 7 days, or for 3 days after having no fevers (gone without using fever reduction medications) or other symptoms, whichever is longer.
Limit physical gatherings of more than 10 people (except for large immediate families).Clean commonly used surfaces, including electronics, doorknobs, around your house with soap and water or appropriate cleaning products depending on the object. It is okay to wash your clothes with a sick person’s clothes.
For more details on how to prevent yourself and others from getting COVID-19, see the MDH or CDC website.