Coronavirus: Early Detection Deemed Necessary

REUTERS

Medical staff attend to patients at Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan, China. The hospital posted the photographs to social media on 25 January 2020.

Thorough efforts are needed to anticipate the new coronavirus’ entry to Indonesia, as infection from human to human has occurred, including among patients without any clinical symptoms.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Screening at ports of entry alone is deemed insufficient to anticipate the spread of the new coronavirus recently discovered in Wuhan, China. Surveillance and early detection are deemed necessary to prevent the virus’ spread.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed thermal scanning at countries’ ports of entry as an effort to detect passengers infected with the new coronavirus (novel coronavirus/2019-nCoV). Further monitoring is required, as detection may fail due to the disease’s incubation period or passengers’ use of fever-suppressing medicines.

Health Ministry Disease Control and Prevention Director General Anung Sugihantono said in Jakarta on Sunday (26/1/2020) that early detection was important to curb the spread of the virus. People, especially those who have just arrived from countries with reported cases, must be educated on the disease’s symptoms. “People must report if they feel the symptoms,” Anung said.

Other than 100 referral emergency infectious disease hospitals, the government has also instructed other state-owned and private hospitals and clinics to prepare for the spread of the new coronavirus. Provincial and regency/city health agencies monitor the developments.

Medical professionals’ competence in detecting viruses must be improved.

The United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that symptoms of the new coronavirus infection were cough, flu and breathing difficulty – all of which occur 2-14 days after the infection. In severe cases, the symptoms resemble those of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Clinical practitioner and University of Indonesia School of Medicine dean Ari Fahrial Syam said further monitoring of people coming from countries with reported cases of the new coronavirus was important because of the disease’s nonspecific symptoms. Medical professionals’ competence in detecting viruses must be improved.

Reuters reported on Saturday (25/1) that two of the three Chinese citizens entering Paris and having been diagnosed with the new coronavirus infection did not show any symptoms. This was proven by a report published at The Lancet journal on Friday (24/1).

The virus may spread before its carrier shows any symptoms. This conclusion is obtained from two of the first clinical studies on patients who had contracted 2019-nCoV. A genetic analysis on a family from Shenzhen who caught the virus after visiting Wuhan proved that infection between humans have taken place outside of Wuhan. The distance between Shenzhen and Wuhan is 1,094 kilometers, and the family did not visit the Wuhan seafood market alleged to be the source of the virus.

The family’s five members, ranging in age from 36 to 66 years, were tested positive for the virus after all suffered from fever, breathing difficulty and diarrhea following an incubation period of three to six days.

“The second child that was infected did not show any symptoms of the disease,” researchers led by Kwok-Yung Yuen of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen University Hospital said.

This proves that the new coronavirus can spread between humans, including by patients that do not show any symptoms. As asymptomatic infection may occur, epidemic control depends on isolating patients, early tracking and quarantine of patients and educating people on food and personal hygiene.

The patients were on average 49 years old, with three quarters of them being male and half of them having visited the seafood market in Wuhan.

In another study, researchers analyzed clinical records, lab results, imaging findings and epidemiologic data of 41 of the first infected people treated at hospitals in Wuhan from Dec. 16, 2019, to Jan. 2. The patients were on average 49 years old, with three quarters of them being male and half of them having visited the seafood market in Wuhan.

All of the patients suffered from pneumonia, and all but one had a fever. Three quarters of them had a cough, 44 percent suffered from exhaustion and 55 percent experienced breathing difficulty.

As of Sunday evening, 2,019 new coronavirus cases had been reported, with 56 fatalities. Travel restrictions have been imposed in several Chinese cities. Wuhan in Hubei province, believed to be the source of the virus, has been isolated. The virus is believed to have originated from a wild animal, though the species has yet to be ascertained.

Several regions

A lab test on a 35-year-old patient at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital came back negative. Nevertheless, the government is increasing its vigilance in response to reports of patients suspected of having contracted the new coronavirus in several regions, including three at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, Bali.

In Surabaya, Dr Soetomo General Hospital spokesperson Pesta Parulian said the hospital had received a patient who had just arrived from China and was suffering from fever, coughing and flu. The patient arrived in Surabaya from China on Jan. 5 and was diagnosed with pneumonia. The patient is currently in the isolation ward.

Sele Be Solu General Hospital head Mavkren Kambuaya said the patient was recovering.

At the Sele Be Solu General Hospital in Sorong, West Papua, a Chinese tourist identified as YP is treated in the isolation ward because of possible infection with the virus. YP departed from China with 19 colleagues and transited in Jakarta on Jan. 22 on their way to Sorong and Raja Ampat. YP had a cough and fever. Sele Be Solu General Hospital head Mavkren Kambuaya said the patient was recovering.

Raden Mattaher General Hospital in Jambi also received a patient believed to have possibly contracted the new coronavirus. The patient’s condition was reportedly improving. Raden Mattaher hospital service director Dewi Lestari said the patient had come to the Siloam Hospital on Saturday afternoon with complaints of coughing, flu, fever and breathing difficulty. The patient had just arrived home from Wuhan in early January.

An employee of low-cost carrier Lion Air is being treated at the Kandou General Hospital in Manado for a cough upon returning from China. North Sulawesi Health Agency Disease Control and Prevention Division head Steaven Dandel said the patient was a 24-year-old woman and worked as an interpreter for Lion Air on its flight routes between eight Chinese cities and Manado.

Vigilance

Transportation Ministry Air Transportation Director General Polana B Pramesti said Indonesian airlines would not serve flights from and to Wuhan between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2 in order to curb the new coronavirus’ spread in Indonesia.

The West Java administration has established a coronavirus crisis and information center at the Al Ihsan General Hospital in Bandung.

Some 150 tourists from Kunming, China, arrived at the Minangkabau International Airport in Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra, on Sunday morning. Other than screening at the airport, their health is closely monitored throughout their stay in West Sumatra.  (TAN/AIK/FLO/RTG/BRO/JOL/ITA/AIN/OKA/VDL/ZAK/NIK)