What Coronavirus does to your body
A detailed analysis of the first 99 patients treated there has been published in the Lancet medical journal (attached). on how it attacks your body.
Lung assault
All of the 99 patients taken to the hospital had pneumonia - their lungs were inflamed and the tiny sacs where oxygen moves from the air to the blood were filling with water.
Other symptoms were:
82 had fever
81 had a cough
31 had shortness of breath
11 had muscle ache
nine had confusion
eight had a headache
five had a sore throat
First deaths
The first two patients to die were seemingly healthy, although they were long-term smokers and that would have weakened their lungs.
The first, a 61-year-old man, had severe pneumonia when he arrived at hospital.
He was in acute respiratory distress, meaning his lungs were unable to provide enough oxygen to his organs to keep his body alive.
Despite being put on a ventilator, his lungs failed and his heart stopped beating.
He died 11 days after he was admitted.
The second patient, a 69-year-old man, also had acute respiratory distress syndrome.
He was attached to an artificial lung or ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) machine but this wasn't enough.
He died of severe pneumonia and septic shock when his blood pressure collapsed.
At least 10% die
As of 25 January, of the 99 patients:
57 were still in hospital
31 had been discharged
11 had died
This does not mean the death rate of the disease is 11%, though, as some of those still in hospital may yet die and many others have such mild symptoms they do not end up in hospital.
Market workers
Live animals sold at the Huanan seafood market are thought to be the source of the infection, called 2019-nCoV.
And 49 out of the 99 patients had a direct connection to the market:
47 worked there, either as managers or manning the stalls
two were shoppers who had only popped in
Middle-aged men worst affected
Most of the 99 patients were middle-aged, with an average age of 56 - and 67 of them were men.
However, more recent figures suggest a more even gender split. The China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 1.2 men were infected for every 1.0 women.
There are two possible explanations for the difference:
Men could be more likely to become severely ill and need hospital treatment
Men, for social or cultural reasons, may have been more likely to be exposed to the virus at the beginning of the outbreak Dr Li Zhang, at the hospital, says: "The reduced susceptibility of females to viral infections could be attributed to the protection from X chromosome and sex hormones, which play an important role in immunity."
And those who were already sick
Most of the 99 had other diseases that may have made them more vulnerable to the virus as a "result of the weaker immune functions of these patients":
40 had a weak heart or damaged blood vessels due to conditions including heart disease, heart failure and stroke
A further 12 patients had diabetes more
Lung assault
All of the 99 patients taken to the hospital had pneumonia - their lungs were inflamed and the tiny sacs where oxygen moves from the air to the blood were filling with water.
Other symptoms were:
82 had fever
81 had a cough
31 had shortness of breath
11 had muscle ache
nine had confusion
eight had a headache
five had a sore throat
First deaths
The first two patients to die were seemingly healthy, although they were long-term smokers and that would have weakened their lungs.
The first, a 61-year-old man, had severe pneumonia when he arrived at hospital.
He was in acute respiratory distress, meaning his lungs were unable to provide enough oxygen to his organs to keep his body alive.
Despite being put on a ventilator, his lungs failed and his heart stopped beating.
He died 11 days after he was admitted.
The second patient, a 69-year-old man, also had acute respiratory distress syndrome.
He was attached to an artificial lung or ECMO (extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) machine but this wasn't enough.
He died of severe pneumonia and septic shock when his blood pressure collapsed.
At least 10% die
As of 25 January, of the 99 patients:
57 were still in hospital
31 had been discharged
11 had died
This does not mean the death rate of the disease is 11%, though, as some of those still in hospital may yet die and many others have such mild symptoms they do not end up in hospital.
Market workers
Live animals sold at the Huanan seafood market are thought to be the source of the infection, called 2019-nCoV.
And 49 out of the 99 patients had a direct connection to the market:
47 worked there, either as managers or manning the stalls
two were shoppers who had only popped in
Middle-aged men worst affected
Most of the 99 patients were middle-aged, with an average age of 56 - and 67 of them were men.
However, more recent figures suggest a more even gender split. The China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 1.2 men were infected for every 1.0 women.
There are two possible explanations for the difference:
Men could be more likely to become severely ill and need hospital treatment
Men, for social or cultural reasons, may have been more likely to be exposed to the virus at the beginning of the outbreak Dr Li Zhang, at the hospital, says: "The reduced susceptibility of females to viral infections could be attributed to the protection from X chromosome and sex hormones, which play an important role in immunity."
And those who were already sick
Most of the 99 had other diseases that may have made them more vulnerable to the virus as a "result of the weaker immune functions of these patients":
40 had a weak heart or damaged blood vessels due to conditions including heart disease, heart failure and stroke
A further 12 patients had diabetes more
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View all 6 comments Below 6 comments
Chinese eat all kinds of insects and other lower life perhaps exposing them to more risk of infection. more
Feb 07
With out kind of cleanliness at least our generations are immune to lot of diseases whereas the newer generations will not be so more
Feb 04
Another aspect not enumerated in the post. Authorities should not try to hide facts of any new decease once flagged by the hospital or doctors. This problem became serious and worldwide only due to negligence of the authorities who even asked the doctor who first treated the first patients not to spread rumours of a rare decease. more
Feb 04
Moral of the story: Keep the hygiene of all types of vegetable/meat markets clean. Both authorities and the market participants should work together. more
Feb 04
Because of our rather deleterious environment Indians have a higher level of immunity than other peoples. Recall the SARS epidemic did not have that major an impact here as elsewhere. Let us take all precautions, particularly the old and young. But let us not panic. more
Feb 04
